Sean Penn was hanging out with Zelenskyy while winning his third Oscar

He was right to be concerned because Sean Penn won the award and was notably absent from the ceremony last night. (“Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening, or didn’t want to,” Culkin said. “So, I’ll be accepting this award on his behalf.”) It wasn’t a surprise that Penn’s chair remained empty all night, but at least we now know where he was: Hanging in Ukraine with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Dispatching from war torn Ukraine, Zelenskyy posted a photo of Penn earlier today, confirming the actor’s whereabouts while he was winning his third Oscar. “Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is,” President Zelenskyy wrote. “You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today. And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people.” 

Penn has often valued his friendship with Zelenskyy and pursuit of peace in Ukraine over his relationship with the Academy. In 2022, the actor gifted the Oscar he won for Mystic River to the president, and before that, he threatened to melt his Oscars if Zelenskyy wasn’t allowed to speak at the ceremony. The Ukrainian president never made it to the stage, but it was an empty threat anyway. Penn apparently never melted his Oscars. Still, as the saying goes, the real Academy Award is the cigarettes you smoked along the way.