Sean Penn Says Gift Of Oscar To Ukraine’s President Zelensky Was “Inspired By Shame Towards Motion Picture Academy”
deadline.comSean Penn has reiterated his offer to have one of his Oscars melted down by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – saying his gift to the battling leader was inspired by his “continuing shame towards the Motion Picture Academy.” Penn debuted his documentary Superpower, detailing Zelensky’s leadership and Ukrainians’ courage following Russian invasion, at the Berlin International Film Festival and told press on Saturday: “The Oscar is there in his office, and ready to be melted any time he wants to melt it.
He called the gift of the statuette “a small gesture, symbolic between two friends – inspired by my continuing shame towards the leadership of the Motion Picture Academy in choosing to present Will Smith smacking Chris Rock rather than the greatest symbol of cinema and humanity living today.
Their loss.” Penn gave one of his two Oscars for Best Actor to Zelensky last year after the pair became friends during the filming of the documentary.
The actor had previously pledged to “smelt” his Oscar if the Academy did not invite Zelensky to appear at the 2022 Oscars, saying at the time: “There is nothing greater that the Academy Awards could do than to give him that opportunity to talk to all of us… It is my understanding that a decision has been made not to do it.” Penn and his co-director Aaron Kaufman began filming Superpower in early 2021, with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin still a distant threat.
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