Jewel Opens Up About Dating Sean Penn Many Years Ago

Sean Penn wears a leather jacket while attending the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday (September 29) in New York City.

The 55-year-old actor was joined at the event by Naomi Campbell, Freida Pinto, and of course Bill and Chelsea Clinton. Earlier in the week, Sean attended some more charitable events in the Big Apple.

Sean‘s ex-girlfriend Jewel is opening up about their relationship.

“He’s very bright, and it’s just a lot of verbal sparring, which to me is flirty. I’m not a normal flirty person,” Jewel said on Access Hollywood (via Us Weekly). “To me, verbal sparring is very, very enticing and he’s very bright.”

“He wasn’t flirty right away, he was business. We were talking about music and writing a song,” Jewel added about how they met when he asked her to write a song for his 1995 movie The Crossing Guard. “Sean was very sweet. And it was a time in my career when nobody believed in me. I was selling two records every five months and it was just a really rough time. But he really believed in me, and having that really meant a lot. And he’d follow me on tour, and carry my guitar for me. Just incredibly supportive and incredibly sweet.”