Actor and director Sean Penn missed the Academy Awards, where he was honored, due to his travel to Ukraine.
On the night of March 16, at the 98th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Penn won a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Battle After Battle. The award was accepted in his place by last year’s winner Kieran Culkin, who said Ben was “unable or unwilling to attend” the ceremony.
As it turned out, at this time the actor was heading to Ukraine. On the evening of March 16, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky received Sean Penn in Kiev.
“Thank you, Sean, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is. You have been with Ukraine since the first day of a large-scale war. And today. We know that you will continue to remain with our country and our people,” Zelensky wrote in a telegram in which he published a joint photo with the actor.
Sean Penn finds himself in Ukraine on the first day of a large-scale Russian invasion. As a result, he directed a documentary called “Superpower” about the Russian-Ukrainian war and Vladimir Zelensky. In 2022, Penn presented one of the Oscars to the Ukrainian president, and also called for a boycott of the US Academy ceremony if Zelensky was not allowed to speak at it. In Ukraine, Ben was awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd class.