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Sean Penn Refuses To Return To Set Unless Crew Fully Vaccinated

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Actor Sean Penn is refusing to return to the set of his new television series "Gaslit" unless his entire cast and crew are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

"Flag Day" Press Conference - The 74th Annual Cannes Film Festival
CANNES, FRANCE - JULY 11: Sean Penn attend the "Flag Day" press conference during the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival on July 11, 2021 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

A representative of the actor told Deadline that the 60-year-old Penn has asked that everyone in the production be fully vaccinated.

According to Deadline, NBCUniversal issued a mandate this week that all members of Zone A – which includes the cast and the crew who come in close contact with them -- be vaccinated.

Penn has purportedly offered to help facilitate the vaccinations through his nonprofit company Community Organized Relief Effort, CORE, Deadline reports.

CORE partnered with the city of Los Angeles to provide coronavirus testing as the pandemic was unfolding in April of 2020.

"Gaslit" is a Starz series about the Watergate scandal which also stars Julia Roberts. It began shooting in L.A. in April, according to Variety.

In September of last year, the Hollywood unions and studios reached an agreement on COVID-19 protocols. It created a zone system designed to keep different groups working on a production set separate in an effort to mitigate the potential spread of the virus should a crewmember test positive.

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