Sean Penn won his third Oscar Sunday night for supporting actor for his role as Colonel Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” but he was missing from the awards show.
Penn skipped the ceremony to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader posted a photo of them together on X, thanking the actor and activist. Zelenskyy wrote, “Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is."
Zelenskyy says Penn has stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war, and this is still true today, and they know that he will continue to stand with their country and people.
Last year’s supporting actor winner Kieran Culkin presented the award Sunday night, saying “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening — or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.”
Penn appeared on last year’s Variety’s Actors on Actors in a conversation with Julia Roberts and said he skirted the no-smoking rules at the Golden Globes to light up a cigarette during the ceremony.
At the 2026 Globes, he lost best supporting actor to “Sentimental Value’s” Stellan Skarsgård.
Penn went on to win the Actor Award and BAFTA award, but declined to attend either ceremony.
Source: variety.com
