Why Oscar-winning movie star refused to attend the gala

The famous golden men at a previous ceremony (Alamy).

On Sunday night, former late night comedian Conan O’Brien hosted his second Academy Award as the best in show business gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

While jokes about Timothée Chalamet’s polarising remarks about opera and ballet and some jabs at president Donald Trump let some air out of the room, the show was not free from controversy. No one got slapped by Will Smith and the wrong winner was never announced, but a household name was absent despite taking home gold. 

After receiving his sixth Oscar nomination, Sean Penn was announced as victorious as best actor in a supporting role. Despite fierce competition from the likes of Sinners’ Delroy Lindo, Frankenstein’s Jacob Elordi and Sentimental Values’ Stellan Skarsgård, Penn prevailed and took home his third academy award for his performance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another. Last night saw Penn win his third award, seeing him join a prestigious club including Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan and Daniel Day Lewis, who also have three golden statuettes on their mantels.

But once his name was called by last year’s winner Kieran Culkin, Penn was nowhere to be found, and the Succession star jokingly accepted the award on the winner’s behalf, saying: “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf” before leaving the stage with the trophy in his hand.

Naturally, this incident aroused suspicion and sparked the question: why did Sean Penn refuse to attend the gala? 

According to reports in the New York Times, the moviestar was abroad on a visit to Ukraine, which reportedly was the reason behind his absence. While it is not known why he traveled to the war-torn country, he has visited multiple times since the Russian invasion and has filmed a documentary about president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Penn follows in the footsteps of Marlon Brando who famously declined his invitation to the awards in 1973 following his win for The Godfather. The Apocalypse Now actor instead let activist Sacheen Littlefeather hold a speech in his absence, to protest Hollywood’s treatment of Native Americans 

This is not the first time Penn has caused controversy in Hollywood, as he has previously been absent from the Academy Awards despite being nominated and has maintained a friendship with former president of Venezuela Hugo Chaves as well as called for the imprisonment of journalists labelling the Venezuelan as a dictator. 

Sean penn alongside John Lesher, Alejandro G. Inarritu and James W. Skotchdopole at the 87th Annual Academy Awards in 2015 (Alamy).