{"id":7104,"date":"2026-01-16T08:52:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7104"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:52:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:52:57","slug":"what-made-the-moment-even-harder-to-ignore-was-where-it-happened-and-who-was-sitting-right-beside-him-sean-penn-wasnt-tucked-away-in-a-corner-or-slipping-outside-between-segments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7104","title":{"rendered":"What made the moment even harder to ignore was where it happened \u2014 and who was sitting right beside him. Sean Penn wasn\u2019t tucked away in a corner or slipping outside between segments. He was inside the Beverly Hilton ballroom, during the Sunday, Jan. 11 Golden Globes ceremony, seated at a table filled with A-list names \u2014 including his One Battle After Another costar Leonardo DiCaprio. As nominees and presenters waited for the next category to be announced, Penn was spotted calmly smoking indoors, seemingly unbothered by the rules, the cameras, or the optics of it all. For a split second, the scene felt surreal. This wasn\u2019t a backstage slip or a candid caught between takes. This was front and center \u2014 during the show \u2014 in a room built on etiquette, image control, and unspoken boundaries. Heads turned. Whispers started. Some attendees appeared amused. Others looked genuinely unsure whether what they were seeing was actually allowed. What only deepened the intrigue was Penn\u2019s demeanor. There was no visible frustration about the award race, no tension in anticipation of the result. He wasn\u2019t performing defiance for attention. If anything, he looked detached \u2014 as though the ceremony was happening around him, not to him… WATCH VIDEO BELOW \ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sean Penn was nominated at the Golden Globes for his role in \u2018One Battle After Another,\u2019 but Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd took the prize for \u2018Sentimental Value\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sean Penn at the 2026 Golden Globes.<\/span>Credit :\u00a0<\/span>Christopher Polk\/2026GG\/Penske Media via Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Penn, who was in attendance at the Sunday, Jan. 11 awards show at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles as a nominee for his movie\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em>\u00a0was spotted smoking indoors while sitting at a table that also included his costar\u00a0Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.<\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u00a0reporter Ben Fritz posted a photo of Penn, 65, seemingly taken as he inhaled the cigarette, showing him sitting at his table while\u00a0Kate Hudson\u00a0and DiCaprio, 51, chatted during the night. \u201cThis can\u2019t be legal,\u201d Fritz wrote in a\u00a0post he shared to X.<\/p>\n

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Vanity Fair<\/em>\u00a0also reported during the ceremony that a director who was attending the Golden Globes told one of its reporters that Penn had \u201cjust lit up inside the theater, right at his table,\u201d while others at the ceremony looked for an area to smoke outdoors.<\/p>\n

The photo also made its way to an Instagram account called\u00a0@cigfluencers, which wrote, \u201cSean Penn smoking INSIDE the Golden Globes venue!? Incredible stuff happening here,\u201d in a caption shared to its post.\u00a0Hacks<\/em>\u00a0star Hannah Einbinder, who was nominated for her role on the show once more at the Globes, even responded to the Instagram post and wrote in a comment, \u201csaw with own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A representative for Penn did not immediately return PEOPLE\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

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Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn.<\/span>Stewart Cook\/CBS via Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Penn\u2019s movie\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em>\u00a0won five awards total at the ceremony, including Best Motion Picture \u2013 Musical or Comedy. Penn himself was nominated for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture, but Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd won the award for his role in\u00a0Sentimental Value<\/em>. Penn\u2019s\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em>\u00a0costar Benicio del Toro, as well as Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein<\/em>), Paul Mescal (Hamnet<\/em>) and Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly<\/em>) were also nominated in that category.<\/p>\n

Penn is no stranger to smoking indoors during television broadcasts. The actor once smoked two cigarettes during a\u00a02018 appearance on\u00a0The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/em>, to many fans\u2019 bewilderment on social media.<\/p>\n

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Sean Penn and Julia Roberts onstage at the 2026 Golden Globes.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the Golden Globes, Penn is next nominated at a major awards show with his Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role nomination at the\u00a0upcoming Actor Awards\u00a0on March 1. Miles Caton (Sinners<\/em>), Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another<\/em>), Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein<\/em>) and Paul Mescal (Hamnet<\/em>) are also nominated at that ceremony.<\/p>\n