Sean Penn just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor at the 2026 Academy Awards but...didn’t show up to collect his award. Instead, Kieran Culkin (who won the award last year) accepted the statue on his behalf, saying, “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to. So I’ll be accepting this award on his behalf.”
So...where was Sean? Unclear, but he also skipped the Actor Awards and the BAFTAs this year. The New York Times reports that Sean “headed to Europe” and that “his plan as of late last week was to visit Ukraine, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter.”
These people “did not specify what he would be doing there or where precisely within the country he would be going” and there’s a “possibility” that his “itinerary might have changed.” Meanwhile, his rep declined to comment to the outlet!
The award was Sean's third Oscars win, having previously won the Best Actor award for his performances in Mystic River in 2004 and Milk in 2009.
Other nominees in Sean’s category last night were Stellan Skarsgard for Sentimental Value, Jacob Elordi for Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo for Sinners, and Benicio Del Toro for One Battle After Another.
Cosmopolitan UK has contacted Penn's representatives for comment
