Charlize Theron Denies ‘Ghosting’ Sean Penn Before Split

In the April issue of WSJ magazine, Charlize Theron opens up on her split from Sean Penn.

After the breakup, rumors swirled that Charlize had been “ghosting” him beforehand, but she said that was not the case. She explained, "There is a need to sensationalize things. When you leave a relationship there has to be some f*cking crazy story or some crazy drama. And the f*cking ghosting thing, like, literally, I still don't even know what it is. It's just its own beast.”

She went on, "We were in a relationship and then it didn't work anymore. And we both decided to separate. That's it.”

While the two were dating, reports were flying that Sean was adopting her son Jackson. She set the record straight, saying, "We were very, very new in a relationship. The stories that Sean was going to adopt Jackson, and all of that, was not true. It's not something that happens in 18 months. You can't do that to a child.”

Theron elaborated, "There was an understanding that I was a single mom with a very young boy who I had to put in a situation where he understood that Mommy dates, but that he does not have a father, you know what I mean? You have to be very careful and very honest about that stuff. And Sean was great with all of that.”

The 40-year-old also explained why Penn wasn't involved in the adoption of her second child, August. She revealed, "And in my honesty about wanting to have more kids, there was an understanding that a relationship had to go somewhere before it was going to be — what you hope for, which ultimately did not happen. I couldn't foresee that, but that stuff takes time and I think it's my responsibility as a mother to protect my child from that. And we had a very clear understanding. He knew that I was thinking about filing for another adoption, but that we weren't filing together.”