Hollywood actor Sean Penn skipped attending the Academy Awards despite winning best supporting actor for his role in One Battle After Another, instead travelling to Ukraine amid his ongoing advocacy for the country.Penn portrayed the antagonist opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the action thriller. His absence from the ceremony prompted speculation about his whereabouts after he did not appear to accept the award.During the broadcast, presenter Kieran Culkin acknowledged Penn’s absence while accepting the award on his behalf.“Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf,” Culkin said onstage..While the reason for Penn’s absence was not officially confirmed during the ceremony, The New York Times reported he was believed to be in Europe with plans to travel to Ukraine, citing two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the trip.A Ukrainian official later told AFP that Penn is in the country on what he considers a personal visit meant to demonstrate support for Ukraine during its war with Russia.“We can say that he’s in Ukraine, but it’s his personal visit; that’s how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine,” the official said. “He just wants to support Ukraine.”The official said Penn is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while another source told AFP the actor is also planning to travel to the eastern front, where Ukrainian forces continue to fight Russian troops.Penn has previously won two Academy Awards — for his performances in Milk and Mystic River — and has increasingly combined his film career with political activism..Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Penn has been a visible supporter of the country and its government. That year he gifted Zelensky one of his Oscars during a visit to Kyiv as a symbolic gesture of support.Ukraine later awarded Penn the Order of Merit, third class, citing his “sincere support and significant contribution to the popularization of Ukraine in the world.”Penn also co-directed the 2023 documentary Superpower, which followed events during Russia’s invasion and chronicled Zelensky’s transformation from comedian to wartime president.The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and included extensive interviews between Penn and Zelensky, with the two men later describing a close friendship that developed during filming.Penn’s trip to Ukraine while skipping Hollywood’s biggest night reflects a long pattern of political activism and high-profile international travel that has often generated both praise and criticism.Over the years the actor has visited Iraq during the U.S. invasion, travelled to Cuba and Venezuela to meet political leaders, and conducted a controversial interview with Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán for Rolling Stone in 2015.Supporters say Penn has used his celebrity to bring attention to international conflicts and humanitarian issues, while critics have characterized some of his trips as political stunts.Penn has continued advocating publicly for Ukraine in international cultural forums. In 2025 he appeared alongside U2 frontman Bono at the Cannes Film Festival, where the pair urged Western governments to continue supporting Kyiv and posed for photographs on the red carpet with Ukrainian soldiers.
