The 2026 Oscars was full of stars, but some celebrities missed out on the action.
Conan O’Brien hosted the 98th Academy Awards at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 15, and a lot went down during the lengthy ceremony. Between a surprising tie, a shocking upset leading to Michael B. Jordan’s win and a golden performance, the awards show was a must-watch — but not for some people.
Now a three-time Oscar winner, One Battle After Another star Sean Penn was noticeably absent from Sunday’s ceremony. Kieran Culkin announced the Best Supporting Actor category, revealing that Penn, 65, was not in the audience despite securing the win for his role as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw.
“Sean couldn’t be here this evening — or didn’t want to be — so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf,” Culkin quipped before walking off stage.
Penn won over Frankenstein’s Jacob Elordi, Sinners’ Delroy Lindo, Sentimental Value’s Stellan Skarsgård and fellow One Battle After Another star Benicio Del Toro.
While the auditorium had tons of recognizable faces, Penn wasn’t the only star who decided to skip out on all the glitz and glamour on Sunday.
Keep scrolling to see who missed out on the 2026 Oscars:
Sean Penn
Penn took home an award, but he still skipped out. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Penn was overseas, causing him to miss the awards ceremony.
“His plan as of late last week was to visit Ukraine, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter,” the newspaper reported, noting that it was not specified what Penn “would be doing there” or where he would be within the country.
“There remained some possibility that although Penn had left the United States by the time of the telecast, his itinerary might have changed,” the Times report added.
Hailee Steinfeld
The Sinners star is currently pregnant, expecting her first child with husband Josh Allen. When costar Jordan took home his Best Actor win, he explained the reason for Steinfeld’s absence during his speech.
“Hailee, at home, she’s, you know, getting ready to have a baby right now,” Jordan said, mentioning one of his two Sinners characters. “Thank you so much for being the other half of Stack.”
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Brad Pitt
Pitt starred in F1, which was up for several awards on Sunday — including Best Picture — but failed to attend the ceremony. Details about his absence are unclear, but Pitt’s costar Damson Idris held down the fort.
Lewis Hamilton
The F1 driver was a producer on F1, but he was also unable to attend. The professional race car driver was in Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton came in third place during Sunday’s race.
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Ariana Grande
The Wicked: For Good actress was snubbed for her role as Glinda. However, there were rumors that Grande would still attend this year’s Oscars. A photo floating around social media appeared to show the singer and Ethan Slater at a rehearsal for the show, but they both skipped out.
Connor Storrie
Heated Rivalry fans hoped for a glimpse of both their boys, but Storrie did not attend the Oscars. Instead, they got to see costar Hudson Williams attend the ceremony.
