The Real Reason Sean Penn Skipped The 2026 Oscars

The list of winners from the 2026 Oscars includes the usual mix of the expected and the surprising, with Sean Penn taking the statue for his performance in "One Battle After Another" falling in the former category. He's one of those actors that tends to get an automatic Oscar nomination pretty much any time he makes a movie, and the strong awards buzz around "OBAA" as a whole made the chances that he would add another Academy Award to his trophy case pretty high. However, he wasn't at this year's Oscar ceremony to accept his best supporting actor award, with presenter Kieran Culkin accepting it on Penn's behalf.

You don't see Penn acting that much anymore, and you see him doing interviews and press for movies even less. Much of this is due to Penn's busy schedule of humanitarian work, traveling the globe in support of the various social and political causes he champions. According to sources, that is also why he wasn't at the 2026 Oscars. The New York Times posted an article during the ceremony that quoted two anonymous sources who said Penn was in Ukraine at the time, and that is why he wasn't able to be in Los Angeles to attend the Academy Awards.

The next day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself posted on X, revealing that he and Penn met up in Ukraine while also praising the actor for his support. "Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," he 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."

Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is.
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. pic.twitter.com/wGneO1rqJI

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 16, 2026

Despite "One Battle After Another" bombing at the box office, it still cleaned up during the 2026 awards season. From the nearly 500 nominations the movie received across all outlets and award-giving bodies, "OBAA" has won over 270 so far. A number of those awards were for Penn specifically, either as part of the movie's ensemble or focused on his role in particular.

In addition to the Oscar, he also won an Actor Award (formerly the SAG Awards) and a BAFTA, and was nominated for a Golden Globe. And also like the Oscars, he was MIA at all the major awards ceremonies — with the notable exception of the Golden Globes.

Whether it's because the Golden Globes have traditionally been a more relaxed and looser atmosphere than most major award shows, or it just so happened to coincide with a rare day off in Penn's crowded calendar, he did show up for that ceremony — including posing for a number of photos both solo and with his various "OBAA" co-stars. Go figure that the one ceremony he attended this awards seasons is the only of the major awards he didn't end up winning.