Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thanks Sean Penn for Being a ‘True Friend of Ukraine’ Following Oscar Win

When Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor on Sunday, he was notably not present at the ceremony. After Kieran Culkin announced him as the winner, he accepted the award on his behalf. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy cleared up the speculation about where Penn was with a social media post. In it, he thanked Penn for his support of the country.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Sean Penn for supporting Ukraine after the Oscars

At this year’s Oscar ceremony, Penn won Best Supporting Actor for his role in One Battle After Another. He wasn’t there to accept the award, though.

“Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening — or didn’t want to — so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf,” Culkin said. 

Penn, as it turns out, was in a different country during the award’s ceremony. Sources reported that he was in Ukraine at the time. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Zelenskyy shared an image of himself and Penn in conversation. He thanked Penn for his support of the country since Russia’s invasion.

“Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is,” Zelenskyy wrote. “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 made the 2023 movie Superpower about the country after Russia’s invasion.