Sean Penn refuses to return to Starz's Gaslit until everybody on set has been vaccinated

Deadline

Penn has "drawn a line in the sand" after returning from the Cannes Film Festival, calling on the Starz Watergate limited series to require vaccinations for all cast and crew, reports Deadline. Gaslit is currently being filmed mostly indoors in Burbank. "With the highly contagious Delta variant raging enough that Los Angeles has re-imposed indoor mask wearing and cases among the unvaccinated are spiking again at alarming levels across the country, Penn has insisted to the production that the vaccination of everyone must be mandatory," reports Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr. "Through his organization, CORE, Penn has offered to facilitate the vaccination effort, free of charge. (Gaslit's) studio, NBCUniversal, this week mandated mandatory vaccinations in 'Zone A,' which constitutes the cast and those who come in close proximity. An email was sent out to cast and crew Wednesday informing that an on-site clinic was made available to provide free Covid vaccinations, done by the same vendor offering vaccinations to NBCUniversal and production crews on the upper lot. The memo said several vaccine choices are available, and the vendor will be back in 21 days to administer a second dose, if necessary. The memo also asked members of the production to present evidence of vaccination to the Covid testing team when they show up for their next shift on the production." But Penn, who has a few weeks left of filming, says NBC Universal's requirements don't go far enough. "This is one of the first examples of a filmmaker or star directly challenging Hollywood leaders to go further than a recent agreement, and impose strong rules on a production by requiring everyone to be vaccinated," says Fleming.