Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor during the 98th Academy Awards for his role in One Battle After Another.
Presenter Kieran Culkin shared on stage: "Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to, so I'll be accepting this award on his behalf."
© Getty ImagesThe reason behind the no show
Despite being honored with the prestigious award, the actor was not there in person to accept the Oscar, with reports suggesting the decision was politically motivated.
Sean was reportedly in Europe and had plans to visit Ukraine, according to multiple reports. He made the conscious decision to draw attention to the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia's invasion.
In 2022 Sean warned he would boycott the Oscars if the Academy Awards prevented Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy from giving a speech during the ceremony.
© Getty ImagesHe expressed ahead of the ceremony on CNN: "I would encourage everyone involved to know, though it may be their moment, and I understand that, to celebrate their films, it is so much more their moment to shine and to protest and to boycott that Academy Awards. I myself, if it comes back to it, when I return, I will smelt mine in public."
Sean continued: "I pray that's not what happened. I pray there have not been arrogant people who consider themselves representatives of the greater good who have decided not to check in with leadership in Ukraine. So I'm going to hope that's not what happened, and I hope everyone walks out if it is."
The Oscars ultimately did not allow the Ukrainian president to speak, and that moment appeared to shift something for Sean, inspiring him to continue using his platform to advocate for Ukraine.
He revealed to Variety that he planned on taking his previous Oscars for his roles in Mystic River in 2004 and Milk in 2009 off the shelf and putting them to a different use.
Sean shared: "I thought, well, [expletive], you know? I'll give them to Ukraine. They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians."
Although that was his initial plan, he ended up giving one to the Ukrainian president and recalled: "I told him to keep it and bring it to Malibu after all this is over and his country is safe."
© WireImageSean's activism
This isn't the first time that Sean has skipped the ceremony. He has also stayed away in 1996, 2000 and 2002.
The Oscars are not the only ceremony that the actor has boycotted. He has also skipped previous Screen Actors Guild Awards (formerly known as the SAG Awards), and the BAFTA Awards.
Sean is passionate about philanthropy and has previously helped provide refugee shelters and support educational programs for children in Poland.
