It’s been years since the somewhat disturbing rumors first came to light, but Sean Penn still maintains that he never physically abused ex-wife Madonna with a baseball bat.

The couple were engaged in a tumultuous union in the 1980s, with certain wild allegations accusing Penn of tying Madge to a chair on one occasion and hitting her with a bat on another.

I Am Sam star Penn sat down recently with the New York Times to discuss his former union with Madonna, and continues to deny the worst of the claims leveled against him.

It should be said at this stage that Madonna herself has also refuted that Penn was ever physically abusive towards her, with the iconic singer even testifying in court on his behalf in a defamation lawsuit over the allegations.

Yet there are those out there who will tell you there’s rarely smoke without fire, and speculation has followed the now-63-year-old Penn around for decades.

Speaking to the New York Times recently, Penn conceded that one of he and Madonna’s arguments did result in a SWAT team being called to their home, though that wasn’t a result of physical violence on his part.

In his interview, Penn detailed how his ex-wife had called the police and told them she was anxious about guns being in the house. That was apparently enough to kick the gears of the law into motion, as a SWAT team burst into the couple’s home shortly after that, smashing windows to gain access before placing Penn in handcuffs.

“I had a freaking SWAT team come into my house,” Sean recalled for the New York Times.

“I said: ‘I’m not coming out. I’m going to finish my breakfast.’ The next thing I knew, windows were being broken all around the house and they came in.

Penn and Madonna divorced in 1987 after two years of marriage. It was then that certain rumors began to imply that Penn had been physically abusive. The actor told how he heard gossip about having “trussed her up like a turkey,” though he explained, “I didn’t know what ‘trussed up’ meant, first.”

It was while with a new girlfriend that Penn went out to take a smoke one morning and was thereafter confronted about beating Madonna in the head with a baseball bat.

“I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about,” he remembered. “Now, I think it’s fair to say that I’m not the biggest guy in the world. But if I hit Mike Tyson in the head with a baseball bat, he’s going to the hospital.”

The actor also claimed in the interview that he and his ex-wife enjoy an amicable relationship with one another.

“It turns out it’s a lot quicker to repair a friendship after divorce if there are not kids involved,” he said.

Do you remember Penn and Madonna’s turbulent marriage? Let us know thoughts in the comments.