Did Sean Penn tell Robin Wright he was leaving to start a new family?

This is a juicy little piece of gossip from Mike Walker's column in the National Enquirer. It's most likely total fiction, but it's the first report I've read that really tries to explain what was going on behind the scenes in April, as Sean Penn unceremoniously filed for divorce from Robin Wright Penn. Of course, the divorce is now off - but I guarantee the papers will be re-filed within… oh, let's say two months. Walker claims that when Sean left Robin, he told her that he had a dream of meeting someone new and starting a new family. Robin was allegedly so pissed, she took off her wedding ring and threw it at him. Sean then yelled at her, telling her she was acting like a child. Sounds about right, actually. If I were Robin, I would have chosen something a lot larger to throw at his head… or his crotch.

The newly canceled bust-up of SEAN PENN's marriage to long-suffering ROBIN WRIGHT PENN was even uglier than reported - when he suddenly demanded a divorce in April, she exploded and flung her wedding ring right at his head, say friends.

Robin was completely blindsided' by Sean's ultimatum because just a week before, she'd been singing the praises of their marriage to the press.

Robin had no idea,' says a friend. Sean had strayed before, and they'd even split for a while in 2007, but this time she thought they'd found their equilibrium and it was going to last.'

When Sean confronted her and delivered his I love you, but this isn't working' talk, which she's heard before - then added that he saw himself settling down with someone new and starting a family' - Robin screamed in fury, ripped off her ring and flung the thing, just missing his head.

Then she stormed out of the house as Sean bellowed: You're acting like a child!' Divorce is off-again, but... stay tuned.

[From The National Enquirer]

About a month ago, the rumor that seemed to stick around was about Sean and Natalie Portman doing the dirty, and that Sean had basically left Robin for Natalie. Natalie was quiet for a few weeks, then denied that she and Sean were anything but friends and friends alone. There were several parts of that whole story that I didn't buy, and this report may have confirmed it for me. I don't think that when Sean left Robin, he did it because he was leaving her for someone else. I think he was leaving - and maybe it was because he wanted to start a new family. Still makes him a douchebag, though.

Here's Sean Penn and Naomi Watts on the set of 'Fair Game' in Brooklyn in April. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .