Left-wing actor Sean Penn is now dramatically embellishing his story about why he left his Oscar award statue in Ukraine — apparently to make it all sound like a much bigger deal than it was in the beginning.
Penn has been a big supporter of Ukraine in its quest to beat back an invasion by Russian forces. And last year, during a visit to the war-torn country, Penn brought one of his Oscar statuettes to Ukraine and left the golden figure in the hands of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The “Milk” star has been crafting a documentary about Ukraine and its struggle with Russia. In November of 2022, he met with the Ukrainian leader, to whom he presented the Oscar. In Zelenskyy’s words, the award was a “symbol of faith in the victory of our country,” the AP reported at the time.
Yet today, Penn seems to have rewritten the script about his little presentation in Ukraine. Now, he says he hoped the statue would be put to more bellicose and violent purposes.
In a new interview with Variety, Penn is now insisting that the 2022 Oscars ceremony where actor Will Smith torpedoed his career by mounting the stage and slapping presenter Chris Rock spurred him to give his Oscar statuette to Zelenskyy.
He also said that he hoped Zelenskyy would melt the statues (yes, plural) down and make bullets to kill Russians.
Penn told Variety that after Zelenskyy was turned down by the Academy to speak during the event, and after the Oscar slap heard around the world, it all made him think of Ukraine’s fight for independence and gave him the idea to give away his Oscars.
“I thought, well, f***, you know? I’ll give them to Ukraine. They can be melted down to bullets they can shoot at the Russians,” Penn exclaimed.
One question immediately comes to mind, here. What “them” is Penn talking about? He only took one Oscar to Ukraine.
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Also, this all-new description of the Oscar statuette incident is quite a bit different than the original reporting of why Penn gave up his Oscar back in 2022.
In a video of the encounter reported widely by the media last year, Penn said that sometimes “I feel like a traitor” when he leaves Ukraine, but added that the statue was a tangible expression of how he feels about Zelenskyy’s struggle.
But the video also shows that Penn did not mean for the Oscar to be a permanent gift to Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.
“It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you, then I’ll feel better and strong enough for the fights,” Penn said as he presented the statuette to Zelenskyy, according to People. “When you win, bring it back to Malibu. Because I feel much better knowing there’s a piece of me here,” Penn added.
After accepting the statue, Zelenskyy joked, “We have to win, quick.”
For his part, Zelenskyy also acknowledged that it was just a loan, not a permanent gift.
“This time our meeting was special,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post. “Sean brought his Oscar statuette as a symbol of faith in the victory of our country. It will be in Ukraine until the end of the war.”
Penn never reported just which one of his two Oscars he loaned to Ukraine’s leader. Penn won his first Oscar in 2003 for his role in “Mystic River,” and the second for “Milk” in 2008, but it was never made clear which one he left in Ukraine.
Regardless, it was clear that Penn meant it all to be a temporary loan in the hope that the Oscar award would act as a symbol of support.
The Hollywood star got an award in return, too. During his visit to Ukraine, Zelenskyy awarded Penn with the Ukrainian Order of Merit, an award given to citizens for outstanding achievements in economics, science, culture, military or political activism.
Ukrainian officials also embedded a plaque with Penn’s name on it at their “Walk of the Brave” park at Constitution Square in Kyiv.
Penn was touched by the plaque in the small park and told Zelenskyy that there were three places that held a dear place in his heart, “The place where my daughter was born, the place where my son was born and this. Thank you.”
It seems likely that Penn’s all-new memory about the Oscar award is his way of pumping up his status as a self-appointed diplomat to Ukraine and a way to get people talking about him as he prepares to release his little documentary about the Slavic country. The new recollection is all very convenient. But it absolutely conflicts with all the original reporting on the incident.
