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Actor and filmmaker Sean Penn says he put his "petty" disdain for Fox News host Sean Hannity aside to call more attention to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Penn appeared on the Fox News program Hannity Tuesday night despite having conflicting political views with the host. The appearance occurred as Russia's invasion of Ukraine nears 45 days amid increased U.S. sanctions against the country.
Before Penn had agreed to come on the show to share his experience in Ukraine while working on a documentary about the ongoing war, he was vocal about his lack of trust in Hannity.
"All right, so, I make the first phone call to you. I don't know if you remember. And I said I'm interested in the work that you're doing and why you were there even before the war started and this documentary you're doing. Do you remember what you first said to me?" asked Hannity.
"I said that I don't trust you," Penn responded.
Without going into great detail, Penn said there are a lot of reasons he doesn't trust Hannity but decided the issue at hand is far more important.
"I don't think that I've got time to indulge my lack of trust, which becomes a petty thing as people, and babies, are being vaporized, and that these people are fighting for the very dreams that are the aspiration of all of us Americans," Penn said.
He went on to explain his first-hand experience in Ukraine during the buildup to the invasion. Work on the documentary began in November and Penn said his team ventured to the "front lines" as Russia continued to place troops at the border.
He then explained that he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a day before the invasion when the conflict began to escalate.
"I met him face to face for the first time the day before the invasion, and then spent time with him—which we document in the film during the invasion—on the day of the invasion," Penn said. "I don't know that there's a person on Earth who could know that they were born for such a day, that they could rise to it."
As the conversation continued at length, the host said he agreed with Penn, adding he admires Zelensky's courage. He noted that instead of seeking asylum and fleeing his country, Zelensky "put on his body armor" and stayed to fight for his country.
Penn said he believed in Ukraine's solidarity to win.
"Here's what we have to know," the actor said. "The Ukrainians are fighting to win. And they're fighting to win for the very thing that we're able to do right now. To be free, to dream. And that is what we say we represent as Americans."
Newsweek reached out to Hannity for comment.
