LOS ANGELES -- Singer Madonna, citing irreconcilable differences with actor Sean Penn, her husband since 1985, filed divorce papers in a Los Angeles court Thursday, a spokeswoman for the singer confirmed.
The couple had received wide publicity for their on-again-off-again marriage, which included a previous filing for divorce by the singer in December 1987 that culminated with a reconciliation less than two weeks later.
A spokeswoman for Madonna, 30, said no further details would be released on the singer's court filing Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Penn, 28, could not be reached for comment.
'I can only tell you that there will definitely be no further comment from either Mr. Penn or Madonna on this subject,' said Liz Rosenberg, Madonna's publicist, in a telephone interview from New York.
Penn married Madonna in a spectacular, highly publicized open-air ceremony Aug. 16, 1985, on a grassy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu.
But troubles between the couple intensified one year later after they appeared in a film, 'Shanghai Surprise,' that was a failure both with critics and at the box office.
The temperamental actor also had several brushes with the law over his wife.
In April 1986, he attacked songwriter David Wolinski in a Los Angeles nightclub after he reportedly saw Wolinski kiss Madonna. Penn was subsequently fined $1,000 and placed on one year's probation.
Four months later, Penn reportedly spat at and slugged two photographers who were trying to take pictures of the couple outside their New York apartment.
Penn spent 32 days in Los Angeles County Central Jail from August through September 1987 for violating probation after he attacked an extra working on his film 'Colors.'
A judge ruled that Penn's attack on film extra Jeffrey Klein and his earlier arrest in May 1987 for reckless driving constituted violations of probation requiring a 60-day jail sentence.
The singer known for her skimpy costumes and spectacular choreography separated from the actor on Nov. 30, 1987, after he reportedly sought a reconciliation in New York.
Four days later she filed her initial divorce papers in Santa Monica, Calif., citing irreconcilable differences.
But the couple was reunited 13 days later after Madonna filed papers in Santa Monica Superior Court to dismiss her divorce petition.
'It's obvious they're trying (to save the marriage) and I think we should let them,' Penn's publicist, Lois Smith, said at that time.
'Marriage under the best of circumstances isn't easy,' Smith said, 'and it's even harder with all the publicity.'
