Actor Sean Penn has given his Oscar statuette to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a gift.
“It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here then I’ll feel better and strong enough for the fights,” Penn told Zelenskyy during actor’s visit to Kyiv in a video posted to the president’s Telegram channel.
“When you win, bring it back to Malibu, because I’ll feel much better knowing there’s a piece of me here.”
The “Gaslit” actor, who has been outspoken in his political activism, traveled to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion to capture the crisis for a Vice documentary and previously met with Zelenskyy in the early hours of the invasion.
News Nation’s Chris Cuomo had also joined the actor in Ukraine in June as Penn worked on the film that “show[ed] the reality and help[ed] the hurting with relief org CORE.”
In return, Zelenskyy honored Penn with Ukraine’s Order of Merit, saying “It’s not from me, it’s from Ukraine.”
“There are three places in the world that all the pride of my life will be,” Penn said. “The place where my daughter was born, the place where my son was born and this.”
