Sean Penn’s whereabouts after skipping Oscars confirmed after people were left divided over his win

Celebrities all over gathered for the 98th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday (15 March), but there was one very noticeable absence.

The likes of Sean Penn was nowhere to be seen during the prestigious awards ceremony, which saw him win the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role after beating out his co-star Benicio del Toro in One Battle After Another, Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo in Sinners, and Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value.

He was also a no-show at the Actor Awards and BAFTA Awards, despite winning for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at both.

Given his lack of attendance, last year’s supporting actor winner, Kieran Culkin, presented the award on Penn's 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."

But where was Penn, who became the fourth man to ever win three acting Oscars, during the major awards ceremony?

Well, the A-lister has long had a complicated relationship with awards shows and Hollywood in general, as per TV Insider.

Back in 2023, he revealed to Variety that he considered melting down the two Oscars he had previously won to provide Ukraine with ammunition to defend itself against Russia.

On this occasion, Penn skipped the Oscars in order to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy took to X on Monday (16 February) to share a snap of him and Penn, which he captioned: "Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is.

"You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war.

"This is still true today.

"And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people."

Penn's absence left fans at home divided, with one X user hitting out: "Yeah, let’s give a third Oscar to Sean Penn, who doesn’t even care enough to be there. He’s great in One Battle After Another, but this is a joke #Oscars."

Another defended: "Sean Penn just won his third Oscar and he's not there the way he DGAF lmao. But it's a deserved win. #Oscars."

"Sean Penn was never going to show up… #Oscars," declared a third.

Penn has spent time in Ukraine since the war started in 2022.

The following year, in 2023, the Mystic River star made a documentary titled Superpower, which followed Zelenskyy’s career path and sought to understand Ukraine’s recent history.

Speaking about the doc, which was co-directed with Aaron Kaufman, at last year’s Lumiere Film Festival, Penn explained: "I don’t know that I differentiate between getting up in the morning and going to my workshop and building a piece of furniture from going to a movie set and acting or directing a movie, or anything I’ve done working in the NGO space or with the documentary Superpower.

"It all feels like you’re always looking to be value-added. Sometimes you’re not; sometimes you can catch yourself inflaming a situation. You have to weigh risk-benefit on everything – to the situation, not to oneself."

Tyla has previously reached out to Sean Penn's representatives for comment.