Sean Penn and Ben Stiller: 2 Oscar no-shows, 2 VERY different excuses

Instead of accepting an Oscar on Sunday night, actor Sean Penn decided to visit a war zone.

Fellow actor Kieran Culkin told viewers that Penn probably "didn't want to" be at the Oscars, poking fun at him while accepting the Oscar for him.

'This year I'll be at the right place.'

Penn won Best Supporting Actor for his role in "One Battle After Another," his third Oscar in total.

After presenting the award, Culkin said, "Sean Penn couldn't be here this evening — or didn't want to, so I'll be accepting the award on his behalf."

Duty calls

It appeared that Penn preferred to spend his time in Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the president sharing a photo of his meeting with the 65-year-old.

"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," Zelenskyy wrote on X. "And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people," he added, along with a photo of himself and Penn from inside the presidential office.

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Net positive

Penn's retreat to Ukraine is a stark contrast to Ben Stiller, who chose to skip Oscar night for much more relatable reasons.

On Sunday afternoon, Stiller responded to a picture from the 2025 Oscars that asked, "Does he know the knicks won," referring to the NBA's New York Knicks.

The noted basketball fan replied, "This year I'll be at the right place."

Lo and behold, Stiller was pictured courtside at Madison Square Garden in an official team photo that stated, "[Ben Stiller] knows where to be."

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Kiev, Ukraine, 2022. Photo by Ukrainian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Missing in action

Both Stiller and Penn are outspoken liberals, making their absence from the Oscars stage — a dependable platform for leftist political messaging — all the more notable.

Recently, Stiller asked the Trump administration to remove a clip of his film "Tropic Thunder" from one of the White House's highly divisive hype videos, stating, "We never gave you permission and have no interest in being a part of your propaganda machine. War is not a movie."

Stiller has consistently posted jabs at the administration on X, such as suggesting it is not adhering to the Constitution, but he has not mentioned the president by name on the platform since 2021, when Trump was ending his first term.

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