Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar.
The 65-year-old A-lister’s name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building to accept.
The sharp-tongued Culkin joked: ‘Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.’
He triumphed over his One Battle After Another co-star Benicio Del Toro in addition to Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein, Delroy Lindo – Sinners, and Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value in the highly-competitive category.
Daily Mail has reached out to Penn’s representatives for comment on his absence and has yet to hear back.
This was not the first awards show that Penn has snubbed as he was also absent at The Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA earlier this month.
Sean Penn was not in attendance as he earned his third Oscar
The 65-year-old A-lister’s name was announced by Kieran Culkin for the Best Supporting Actor Award for his work in One Battle After Another but he was not in the building (Penn is pictured with co-star and fellow nominee Benicio del Toro in Santa Barbara last month)
He had previously lost the same category at both The Golden Globes and BAFTAs.
The A-lister has previously won Best Actor for 2004’s Mystic River and 2009’s Milk.
He has now tied the all-time record for male acting wins as he now joins Jack Nicholson, Walter Brennan and Daniel Day-Lewis as the most Oscar-winning male actors of all time with three each.
In the Paul Thomas Anderson directed film, Penn portrays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw who is a corrupt military officer who pursues revolutionary group the French 75.
Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night.
The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar supernatural mystery horror film Weapons.
It was one of the most contentious categories of the night as she was up against Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value, Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners, and Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another.
During the speech, Madigan was visibly nervous as she ended it by thanking her husband of over four decades, fellow actor Ed Harris.
She said: ‘The most important is my beloved Ed. Who’s been with me forever, and that’s a long time and none of this would mean anything if he wasn’t by my side. So thank you very much. I’m very overwhelmed.’
The sharp-tongued Culkin joked: ‘Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf’
In the Paul Thomas Anderson directed film, Penn portrays Col. Steven J. Lockjaw who is a corrupt military officer who pursues revolutionary group the French 75
Madigan has been married to Harris, 75, since 1983 as they have one child together – 32-year-old daughter Lily Dolores Harris – whom they welcomed a decade later in 1993.
The synopsis of Weapons reads: ‘When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.’
In it Madigan portrays Gladys who is the elderly relative of Cary Christopher’s character Alex Lilly who is the only child who did not disappear.
Ryan Coogler finally earned his first in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners.
The 39-year-old Oakland native politely asked the crowd to quiet down because he feared being cut off by the music for a long speech.
Coogler sent a sweet message to his three children with wife and producer Zinzi Evans as he concluded his acceptance speech by saying: ‘And to my babies at home watching, I apologize for all the time away.
‘Dad loves you. I hope I’ve given up great memories and you are blessed to live a long life and I want you to remember this one thing, I love you more than anything. Thank you.’
Coogler beat out Robert Kaplow – Blue Moon, Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident, Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme, and Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value.
Paul Thomas Anderson took home Best Adapted Screenplay for One Battle After Another.
Amy Madigan took home the first award at the Oscars 2026 on Sunday night
The 75-year-old veteran actress earned Best Supporting Actress for her work in Zach Creggar supernatural mystery horror film Weapons
During the speech, Madigan was visibly nervous as she ended it by thanking her husband of over four decades, fellow actor Ed Harris
Madigan has been married to Harris, 75, since 1983 as they have one child together – 32-year-old daughter Lily Dolores Harris – whom they welcomed a decade later in 1993
The synopsis of the film reads: ‘When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance’
The 55-year-old filmmaker also thanked his four children with actress Maya Rudolph as he revealed that he wrote this film for them.
Anderson said: ‘I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them but, also, with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.
‘Pearl, Lucy, Jack and Ida, I love you. Thank you very much. Thank you.’
Anderson won over Will Tracy – Bugonia, Guillermo Del Toro – Frankenstein, Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet, and Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams.
The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film.
The Netflix film triumphed over Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, and Zootopia 2.
Meanwhile, The Girl Who Cried Pearls earned Best Animated Short Film.
Cassandra Kulukundis earned the first ever Best Casting Academy Award for her work in One Battle After Another.
Best Live-Action Short Film was decided by a rare tie as The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva were both honored.
While it occurred at the 2026 ceremony in one of the lower-profile categories, the most famous Oscars tie occurred in 1969, when Katharine Hepburn won for The Lion In Winter, while Barbra Streisand tied her for her screen debut in Funny Girl.
Ryan Coogler finally earned his first in the Best Original Screenplay category for his epic Sinners
Paul Thomas Anderson took home Best Adapted Screenplay for One Battle After Another
The second award of the night was groundbreaking as KPop Demon Hunters earned Best Animated Feature Film (Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong are seen left to right)
Meanwhile, The Girl Who Cried Pearls earned Best Animated Short Film (Maciek Szczerbowski and Chris Lavis are seen accepting the honor)
Cassandra Kulukundis earned the first ever Best Casting Academy Award for her work in One Battle After Another
Gullermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was also a big winner as the Netflix film earned two including Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (pictured: Kate Hawley)
Kate Hawley accepted the costume award while Jordan Samuel, Mike Hill, and Cliona Furey (pictured left to right) took home the one for makeup and hair
Gullermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was also a big winner as the Netflix film earned two.
The dramatic reimaging earned both Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Kate Hawley accepted the costume award while Jordan Samuel, Mike Hill, and Cliona Furey took home the one for makeup and hair.
The beginning of the gala saw Conan O’Brien, 62, returning to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel.
Just before that Conan O’Brien, 62, returned to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel
Timothee Chalamet was seen arriving to his seat with girlfriend Kylie Jenner
Kylie stunned in a shimmering red-number
She could be seen shaking hands with fellow attendees
He started off the show with a hilarious pre-taped segment where he channeled Amy Madigan’s character from Weapons and was chased by children while making cameos in several Oscar-nominated films including Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sentimental Value, and Sinners.
He went on to do his monologue as he joked about AI, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and the year in film.
The 98th Academy Awards are celebrating the best films of 2025, with the glitzy ceremony taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
