Sean Penn
Hopper Penn, the 19-year-old son of actor Sean Penn, shoved a photographer and used racial slurs during a confrontation in Beverly Hills. Reuters

Sean Penn’s well-known hatred of paparazzi must run in the family.

Hopper Penn, the 19-year-old son of the “Mystic River” actor, is dealing with the fallout from the profanity-laced tirade he directed at a photographer on Tuesday.

According to TMZ, Penn was following his father into a Beverly Hills medical building when a photographer began to take his picture. The teenager took exception to the photographer’s presence, shoving him and unleashing a series of profanity.

Penn also directed a stream of racial slurs at the photographer, who happened to be African-American. The photographer did attempt to inform Hopper’s father about his poor choice of words. "That the kind of talk you're teaching him, Sean?,” the photographer said as the famously left-wing actor walked away.

TMZ reports that Beverly Hills police officers happened to be in the area, and quickly arrived at the scene to restore order. Sources told TMZ that, although the photographer acknowledged that a heated verbal exchange had taken place, he did not intend to press charges over Penn’s physical contact.

In the aftermath of the incident, the younger Penn attempted to rationalize his actions to TMZ. “I was accosted by paparazzi and made to feel like an animal, threatened and under attack, but that does not condone my own actions,” he told TMZ. He also added that he regretted using such strong language.

Hopper Penn seems to have acquired his father’s penchant for confrontations with aggressive paparazzi. In 2010, the elder Penn was sentenced to three years of probation after kicking a photographer.

You can watch Hopper Penn's outburst below.

*Warning: Video contains graphic and offensive language*