Sean Penn has shared his strong feelings about selfies after being bombarded with requests at the 2026 Golden Globes.
“People should not do selfies ever with anyone. It’s bad for you; it’s bad for everyone. It’s a soul-sucker,” the actor told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins during a Friday panel at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival.
“It’s the Holocaust grandmother and her 6-year-old paraplegic wheeling over? It’s a hard no.”
Penn, 65, also revealed that it was after this year’s Golden Globes that he decided he was done with awards ceremonies. “I’d never been to that before. And that’s where I decided, ‘I can’t do this,’” he said.
Despite attending the Golden Globes, Penn snubbed the Oscars — where he won a third statue for his supporting role in One Battle After Another.
Speaking to Collins about his decision to skip the ceremony, Penn said: “It’s not just an awards show.”
“It would be the same if this group was going to an afterparty and one stepped into that. That always represented social discomfort for me; too many people. I’m now down, committed for life, that I won’t go anywhere to be in a designated group beyond eight people.”
“[It’s] the ninth person,” Penn continued. “And it’s not the low-hanging fruit of ‘I don’t wanna be around all this fake Hollywood’ or something.”
Penn said that large public gatherings like the Oscars only give you “15 minutes per person,” triggering his “anxiety” in a situation he described as “dread-provoking.”
The actor said that he spoke to his co-stars prior to this year’s Oscars ceremony to let them know that it would be “better for my mental health” if he didn’t attend. Instead, he went to Ukraine and watched the ceremony there. The actor has been one of the most high-profile supporters of Ukraine during the war with Russia.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
“I really got to enjoy the Academy Awards for the first time,” Penn confessed. “It was great.”
Penn got some flack from fellow actors for not accepting his Oscar in person. While presenting the category, Kieran Culkin poked fun at Penn’s absence, telling the crowd: “Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening. Or didn’t want to. So I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.”
Penn has previously expressed disdain for the ceremony, accusing the Oscars in 2024 of “limiting different cultural expressions” and saying that ceremonies like the Oscars should be viewed as “television shows first.”
