President Zelenskyy thanks Oscars no-show Sean Penn for go to: ‘We all know what a real good friend of Ukraine is’

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Oscar winner Sean Penn for his current go to to Ukraine.
• The actor gained the Finest Actor in a Supporting Function Academy Award for his efficiency in One Battle After One other.
• Penn was absent from the Oscars, together with the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards this 12 months.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is recognizing his "good friend" and Oscar winner Sean Penn.

The day after the 98th Academy Awards, Zelenskyy took to social media to reward Penn, who gained the Finest Actor in a Supporting Function award for his position in One Battle After Another, whereas additionally thanking the actor for his current go to to Ukraine.

Penn was noticeably absent from the awards present on the Dolby Theatre.

"Sean, due to you, we all know what a real good friend of Ukraine is," Zelenskyy started, sharing {a photograph} of him and the Useless Man Strolling star.

"You might have stood with Ukraine because the first day of the full-scale battle. That is nonetheless true at this time. And we all know that you’ll proceed to face with our nation and our folks."

Penn and Zelenskyy have been mates for years. In 2023, Penn and co-director Aaron Kaufman launched Superpower, a documentary that adopted Zelenskyy's rise to energy and finally main Ukraine amid the battle with Russia.

He spoke about his activism on the Lumiere Movie Competition in Lyon, France, in 2025.

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“I don’t know that I differentiate between getting up within the morning and going to my workshop and constructing a bit of furnishings from going to a film set and appearing or directing a film, or something I’ve performed working within the NGO area or with the documentary Superpower,” he mentioned on the time, per Variety.

"All of it feels such as you’re all the time seeking to be worth added. Generally you’re not; typically you’ll be able to catch your self inflaming a scenario. You need to weigh risk-benefit on all the pieces – to the scenario, to not oneself.”

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Final 12 months's winner, A Actual Ache star Kieran Culkin, offered the Finest Actor in a Supporting Function Oscar on Sunday. Upon studying Penn's identify, Culkin mentioned, "Sean Penn couldn't be right here this night, or didn't wish to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf."

Per an article printed by The New York Instances in the course of the awards present, Penn "was to go to Ukraine, in line with two individuals who spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to debate the matter."

The opposite nominees in Penn's class had been Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein, Stellan Skarsgård for Sentimental Value, Delroy Lindo for Sinners, and costar Benicio del Toro for One Battle After Another.

Throughout this awards season, Penn additionally didn’t attend the Actors Awards and the BAFTAs. He was current on the Golden Globes in January. That night, nonetheless, he misplaced to Skarsgård. Penn beforehand gained two Finest Actor Oscars: for Mystic River in 2004 and Milk, 5 years later.

In 2022, Penn gifted his Mystic River statuette to Zelenskyy as a mortgage, per The Hollywood Reporter.

See the total record of 2026 Oscar winners.

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