Sean Penn won the Best Supporting Actor trophy at the 2026 Academy Awards on Sunday (March 15) at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood!

The 65-year-old actor was not in attendance in person to receive the award, and Kieran Culkin said a brief message on stage before accepting on his behalf. It’s not a huge surprise that Sean skipped, as he’s been missing major awards events this season. He won for One Battle After Another, and this is his third Oscar win.

So, why did Sean skip?

Keep reading to find out more…

The New York Times reports that Sean decided to visit Ukraine instead of appearing in person at the Oscars. Apparently, they confirmed this via “two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.”

Sean has been outspoken about his support of Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in 2022.

While he decided to skip, his One Battle co-stars did attend. We have photos of Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Benicio Del Toro, and Regina Hall in the gallery of this post! Browse through the gallery to see the pics.

Congrats to Sean Penn!