Sean Penn Skipped His Big Oscars Win ... Here's Why

Published March 16, 2026 8:19 AM PDT | Updated March 16, 2026 9:19 AM PDT

Sean Penn scored his third Oscar win Sunday night, earning Best Supporting Actor for his role in “One Battle After Another” … but wasn’t actually there to take home the trophy, and now we've found out why.

During Sunday’s broadcast, Kieran Culkin -- who was presenting the Best Supporting Actor category -- accepted the award on behalf of the absent actor, saying that SP “couldn’t be here this evening ... or didn’t want to.”

Turns out Penn skipped the ceremony because he’s in Ukraine ... Mykola Serha, founder of Cultural Forces -- a collective of Ukrainian service members associated with the arts -- told The Associated Press.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a pic with the actor on X on Monday, thanking him for his continued support of his country.

Calling Sean a "true friend," Volodymyr wrote ... "You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today."

This isn’t the first time Sean has ditched the Oscars … he also bailed when he was up for “Dead Man Walking” in 1996, “Sweet and Lowdown” in 2000, and “I Am Sam” in 2002.

Over the past couple weeks, he was a no-show for the BAFTAs and The Actor Awards ... where he also won.

The Best Supporting Actor category was pretty stacked at this year’s Oscars … Sean beat out Delroy Lindo, Benicio Del Toro, Jacob Elordi and Stellan Skarsgård.