Real reason Sean Penn skipped Oscars 2026… as disappointed fans blast his boycott
Sean Penn was prominently absent from the 2026 Oscars on Sunday, despite picking up his third Academy Award.
The 65-year-old actor did not appear at this year’s ceremony, despite being nominated for Best Supporting Actor; This was a move that both disturbed and impressed netizens.
Penn became the fourth actor to win three Oscars in this category, beating Benicio del Toro, Jacob Elordi, Delroy Lindo and Stellan Skarsgard.
However, his absence infuriated X users, who suggested that future shows stop awarding prizes to absent winners.
However, it was later revealed that the actor and activist skipped the ceremony to visit Ukraine. New York Times.
It is unknown why Penn visited Ukraine. But he visited many times during Russia’s occupation of the country, including to film a documentary about President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Daily Mail has contacted Penn’s representatives for comment but has not yet received a response.
Sean Penn was conspicuously absent from the 2026 Oscars on Sunday despite picking up his third Academy Award
Penn won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in One Battle After Another.
‘There should be a rule that those who do not come because they do not give information about the prize cannot receive the prize, as in the lottery. Didn’t you come? Please continue the list. [An] There may be exceptions for health reasons. ‘Sean Penn doesn’t care about this award,’ someone reasoned.
Another was stunned by the fact that Penn had ‘something better to do’ than attend the Academy Awards: ‘I can’t stop thinking: What better thing did Sean Penn do than go to the Oscars???’ someone asked.
‘Unless you have a good reason not to attend, if you can’t be bothered to attend the Oscars, your award should go to the runner-up. Sean Penn. ‘This is about Sean Penn,’ wrote another.
‘It makes me angry when someone wins an #Oscar and doesn’t even show up. Another noted that Sean Penn couldn’t care less about this award.
‘Sure give Sean Penn a third Oscar, he didn’t even bother showing up and everyone else in this category deserved it too…’ one wrote.
One said, ‘Sean Penn won ‘Best Supporting Actor’; “The one who isn’t there because he doesn’t care since this is already his third Oscar HAHAJAJAJA.”
One said: ‘Sean Penn not coming to the Oscars knowing he was going to win was such a sleazy move.’
One unfiltered X user said bluntly: ‘Sean Penn is a piece of cake [turd emoji].’
Penn, the jokester who smoked indoors at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, failed to make it through the show without getting his hit of nicotine.
‘Sean Penn couldn’t go without a cigarette long enough to win the #Oscars,’ one wrote.
Penn beat Benicio del Toro, Jacob Elordi, Delroy Lindo and Stellan Skarsgard in the category
Host Kieran Culkin couldn’t help but joke about Penn’s absence after announcing him as the winner
Penn reportedly skipped the Oscars to travel to Ukraine, which he has visited multiple times, including in 2022.
Disturbed, X users suggested that the award be given to another candidate who participated in the show
At least one X user found the snub pretty impressive.
‘Three Oscars are too flexible for Sean Penn, who doesn’t care about awards season,’ one wrote.
Another congratulated Penn: ‘Give him credit. Another said Sean Penn didn’t care about the #Oscars, stayed true to his word and stayed home.
Actually, his absence is not a big surprise.
Penn has missed previous Oscars for which he was nominated, and was also absent from this year’s BAFTAs and the Actor Awards, where he won.
Kieran Culkin, who announced the gong, made a joke about Penn’s absence when the star won.
One impressed X user described his disdain as ‘flexible’
Another didn’t realize how important Penn’s absence was
“Sean Penn couldn’t or didn’t want to be here tonight, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf,” the Succession star joked.
The 98th Academy Awards celebrated the best films of 2025 in a lavish ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
Conan O’Brien, 62, returned to host the show for the second year in a row after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel.
One Battle After Another ended the 2026 awards season by winning Best Picture on the same night that Michael B Jordan and Jessie Buckley won best acting awards.
Jordan, 39, shocked the world at the 98th Academy Awards when he was upset that Timothee Chalamet won Best Actor for Sinners; Buckley, 36, received the Best Actress award for her work in Hamnet at the event held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.
Penn defied social etiquette and lit a cigarette at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards
While Paul Thomas Anderson received the grand prize of the night along with Teyana Taylor and other actors, the film received the most wins of the night with six awards.
The American black comedy action-thriller triumphed in a huge, competitive field that included Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams.
Directed by Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another revolves around a group of former revolutionaries who reunite after 16 years to save the daughter of one of them as their enemies reemerge.
The most talked about moment of the night will definitely be 39-year-old Jordan winning the Best Actor award for his leading role in Ryan Coogler’s movie Sinners.
He upset 30-year-old Chalamet, who starred in awards season favorite Marty Supreme; this area included: Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon and Wagner Moura – Secret Agent.
Jordan was in disbelief when he took the stage and was greeted by last year’s winner, Adrien Brody.
Sinners centers on two siblings who return to their hometown to start over, only to discover that a much greater evil in the form of a vampire is waiting to welcome them back.
Jordan played both brothers in the film: older, more serious twin Elijah ‘Smoke’ Moore, and younger, more cheerful brother Elias ‘Stack’ Moore.
