Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson step out as a couple

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Politics took a back seat to love-connecting as whispered-about Hollywood couple Sean Penn, 50, and Scarlett Johansson, 26, made their public debut Saturday at a hot party after the White House correspondents dinner.

Though they didn’t arrive together, what did we expect after Johansson was seen sitting on Penn’s lap during the main event?

In keeping with a heavy PDA lunch in Los Angeles at the start of March that was followed by a lovers’ jaunt to Mexico, Penn and Johannson stepped out to the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg bash in Washington after the annual dinner with Seth Meyers as this year’s entertainment. Reports had the pair living together by mid-April, following Johannson’s split from hubby Ryan Reynolds, who filed for divorce in December.

After mingling with senators, media moguls and other actors, Penn and Johansson left the high-profile event -- held at the estate of François Delattre, France’s ambassador to the U.S. -- holding hands.

Game on.

Tech entreprenuer Sean Parker was counted for at the party, as well as Salma Hayek, Sarah Palin, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rahm Emanual, Jon Hamm and Arianna Huffington.

What do you think of Sean and Scarlett as a couple? Tell us in comments.

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-- Matt Donnelly
twitter.com/MattDonnelly

Photos, from top: Sean Penn makes conversation at the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg White House correspondents dinner after-party; Scarlett Johansson enters the event on the arm of brother Hunter. She later left hand-in-hand with Penn. Credits: Joshua Roberts / Bloomberg News