Sean Penn Shocks Golden Globes Guests by Casually Smoking a Cigarette Indoors

Sean Penn is living in the ‘90s. 

After all, the One Battle After Another star was caught lighting up a cigarette at his Golden Globes 2026 table, where he sat alongside his costars Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor—who took home a trophy for Best Supporting Actress. 

As a Wall Street Journal reporter inside the Beverly Hilton Jan. 11 captioned the shot in a post on X, “This can’t be legal,” (The state of California has prohibited smoking indoors since 1995.)

Meanwhile, Vanity Fair also reported that a director said Penn—who shares kids Dylan, 34, and Hopper, 32, with ex Robin Wright—had lit up at his table as other guests at the party were looking for a place to smoke outside the venue. 

E! News reached out to reps for Penn but has not yet heard back. 

For the 65-year-old, smoking inside wasn’t the only head-turning moment at the Golden Globes. In Nikki Glaser’s opening monologue, she joked that he wasn’t keeping up with the Hollywood beauty trends.