Sean Penn Once Took a Dangerous Car Ride With Jack Nicholson in Russia to Meet Vladimir Putin: I Had a ‘Cold, Ugly Feeling’

The Guardian that towards the end of last year, federal prosecutors began examining two loans that were wired to Trump Media and Technology Group through the Caribbean from two entities that appeared to be controlled in part by an individual that appears to be a relative of an ally to Russian president Vladimir Putin.TMTG, which owns Trump’s Truth Social platform, initially came under criminal investigation related to its potential merger with blank check company Digital World Acquisition Corporation. The merger, which has been delayed, has also faced separate scrutiny from the U.S.

Oscars have reportedly blocked a request from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak during the ceremony.The 95th Academy Awards takes place in Los Angeles on Sunday (March 12). According to Variety, Zelenskyy was hoping to follow up a recent remote appearance at the Berlin Film Festival with a virtual spot at the Oscars.According to sources, his new agent Mike Simpson (who also represents Quentin Tarantino and Bong Joon Ho) asked the academy to feature the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be missing out on the Academy Awards for the second year in a row.

Tatiana Siegel For the past year, Volodymyr Zelensky has been greeted with open arms by awards shows, film festivals and even the New York Stock Exchange. But when it comes to landing airtime on the most coveted telecast of all — the Oscars — the Ukrainian leader is being met with a cold shoulder. For the second year in a row, the Academy has snubbed Zelensky, who was hoping to follow up his Berlin Film Festival (remote) appearance last month with a virtual spot on Sunday’s Oscar telecast on ABC. Sources say WME power agent Mike Simpson made a plea to the Academy to include the comedic actor-turned-politician but was shut down. The Academy declined comment. 

to film a documentary about the Russian invasion of the country, which began a year ago yesterday (February 24, 2022). In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Ukraine at the time, it read: “The director specifically came to Kyiv to record all the events that are currently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country.”In a new interview, Penn recalled how he and Nicholson met the dictator at the 2001 Moscow Film Festival, where Penn’s film The Pledge was premiering.Revealing that the pair travelled with Putin to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov’s estate, Penn told The Independent: “We were put in a convoy.

Sean Penn is doubling down on his call for the United States to supply Ukraine with modern fighter jets amid the country's war against Russia. The 62-year-old actor, who first pressed the White House on Ukraine's need for jets last March, said President Joe Biden's surprise trip to Kyiv this week to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion was "extremely encouraging." However, he stressed that the U.S. continue sending military aid, including modern aircraft, to the war-torn nation.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine and, like many people around the world, he felt helpless at the images of people fleeing their homes.“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades,” the three-time Grammy winner recalls.On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the war’s start, Paisley is releasing a new song called “Same Here,” featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking proudly about his country and people.The song is Paisley’s first from his new record, “Son of the Mountains,” to be released later this year on Universal Music Group Nashville.The West Virginia native wrote the song with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer on Paisley hits “The World” and “Perfect Storm”) and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith. It’s a three-part narrative that reflects on universal similarities, despite distance and language.While it doesn’t mention Ukraine specifically, the song ends with Paisley and Zelenskyy in conversation, recorded during a video call.

Brad Paisley is marking one year since Russia invaded Ukraine.

EXCLUSIVE: On February 24, 2022 Sean Penn and his documentary filmmaking team got up before dawn in Kyiv in anticipation of a planned interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Suddenly, explosions shattered the quiet and missile fire turned the darkened sky to malevolent orange. Russia’s full-scale attack on its neighbor had begun — what President Vladimir Putin later that day euphemistically dubbed a “special military operation.”

Today marks one full year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and fears remain that it could last for another.

On this day last year, Vladimir Putin ordered his troops across the Ukraine border, marking the start of a deadly conflict which has taken the lives of thousands.

Broadcast and cable networks are planning specials, a town hall and other coverage Thursday tied to the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Correspondents also will report from sites around the country, with Vladimir Putin’s regime mounting a winter offensive.

tweeted that “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” drawing furious responses from the left and more moderate right.“This is so laughable because blue states as we all know are the donor states, or the states where taxpayers take it on the chin to take care of districts like Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, to take care of districts across taxes where Ted Cruz talks about secession,” host Joe Scarborough said on Tuesday’s episode of “Morning Joe.”“What is it that so deeply offends [Republicans], like three trans athletes in Utah want to swim? Is that real?” he asked guest commentator Charlie Sykes.Both agreed that calls for a “national divorce” were not to be taken as a serious possibility, but rather as a tactic to collect funds from right-wing supporters.“It’s fascinating that they’re so desperate to raise money from small donors, they’re actually willing to say, we need to have a civil war,” Scarborough pointed out.Sykes agreed that their motives were purely “to keep racheting up the outrage.” Still, such rhetoric is not without danger, he said.“People like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ron DeSantis are appealing to the id of the party, the id of the right, which is anti-Ukraine, which is willing to tolerate this sort of notion that our real enemy is not Vladimir Putin.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Matt Damon revealed he was in the “early stages” on a project about Ukraine during the press conference for “Kiss the Future” at the Berlin Film Festival. Damon is a producer on the documentary which chronicles the struggle of Sarajevo citizens during the Bosnian War. World premiering in the Berlinale Special section, the politically minded documentary is directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and based on “Fools Rush in: A Memoir” the memoir of Bill Carter, an aid worker. It shows how his determination resulted in the enlistment of the world’s largest rock band, U2, to help shine a light. Fifth Season and WME handling worldwide sales. Asked if he was considering following the footsteps of Sean Penn with “Superpower” with a film on the war in Ukraine, he said he’s “watched as everyone has with horror that unfolded there in the last year,” and although they “don’t have anything on it right now there isn’t any doubt that we’ll be doing.”

Christopher Vourlias The war in Ukraine has taken center stage this week at the Berlin Film Festival, which is taking place for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. At Thursday’s opening ceremony, Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelenskyy appeared via satellite to encourage festival-goers “not to remain silent” over Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression. Sean Penn, who this week premiered his docu-portrait of the Ukrainian leader, “Superpower,” lashed out at Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, who he described as a “war criminal” and a “creepy little bully.” Moral outrage has not been in short supply since the start of the war, as the global film community — in a show of near unanimous condemnation of the Kremlin’s criminal attack — has rallied behind the Ukrainian war effort. But many U.S. and foreign companies quietly continue to do business with Putin’s pariah state or have resumed the deal-making that was put on pause once the war began.

Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, a key figure in the story of acclaimed documentary Navalny, says he and his family have been banned from attending the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday because he poses “a public security risk”.

Sean Penn has reiterated his offer to have one of his Oscars melted down by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky – saying his gift to the battling leader was inspired by his “continuing shame towards the Motion Picture Academy.”

Christopher Vourlias Sean Penn said he was happy to be a “propagandist” for the Ukrainian war effort and called Russian president Vladimir Putin a “creepy little bully” Saturday in Berlin, after the world premiere of his gonzo documentary “Superpower,” a gripping, courage-under-fire portrait of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “This is not an unbiased film because this is not an ambiguous war,” he said, calling the conflict “extremely personal.” “I’m very happy to be considered a propagandist. I was happy to make an unbiased film because that is the true story we found.” Donning a black jacket and hoodie and sporting a camouflage trucker cap, Penn repeatedly called on the Biden administration to send precision, long-range missiles to Kyiv to support the Ukrainian war effort.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Last November, in a gesture that the actor himself described as “a symbolic, silly thing,” Sean Penn gifted one of his two Academy Awards to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to mark his emotional investment in the country as they continue to fight Russia’s invasion — attracting widespread mockery from social media and the entertainment press in the process. That this moment is not included in Penn and co-director Aaron Kaufman’s “Superpower,” a disordered, distinctly Penn-centric account of recent Ukrainian history, counts as one of the film’s few moments of self-awareness. As far as the rest goes, anyone watching this doc right after emerging from a two-year coma could be forgiven for identifying the Hollywood veteran as a key player in the conflict.

Sean Penn and a gonzo documentary camera crew found themselves on the frontlines of war as they waited to see if they could interview Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Not only did he land that interview, but he continued to travel back to Ukraine to chronicle the horrors of war a total of six times for “Superpower,” a documentary Penn co-directed that premiered to a standing ovation at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday. In the nearly two-hour-long film, produced by Vice, Penn underlines America’s shortcomings in supporting Ukraine in the war. Zelenskyy, who grows increasingly comfortable around the Oscar-winning actor in a series of interviews, reveals his frustrations at the lack of support in the form of high-impact weapons received from the Biden administration.