In a move that some critics groused as “Hollywood at its most tone-deaf,” Sean Penn has apparently lent one of his two Oscars to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to a video posted to Instagram by Zelenskyy’s office, the head of state seemed not to know what to make of the gesture, but eventually accepted it, with the T-shirt-wearing Mystic River and Milk Academy Award winner explaining the trophy could be something of a good luck charm in his fight against Russia.
“This is for you,” Penn said after retrieving the celebrity idol from a storage case in his backpack. “It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then I’ll feel better and stronger for the fights,” Penn said in a video shared by Zelenskyy’s office. “When you win, bring it back to Malibu.”
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