Sean Penn to be honoured with humanitarian award by the Television Academy

The award-winning actor and documentary maker will be recognised for his ‘decades of activism’ at the organisation’s 26th Hall of Fame event.

Sean Penn to be honoured with humanitarian award by the Television Academy (Ian West/PA) (PA Archive)

Sean Penn is due to be honoured with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, the Television Academy has announced.

The award-winning actor and documentary maker will be recognised for his “decades of activism” at the organisation’s 26th Hall of Fame event next month.

The ceremony on November 16 will see six television legends inducted.

The honourees are director and choreographer Debbie Allen, documentarian Ken Burns, former Warner Bros chairman Bob Daly, BET founder Robert L Johnson and lighting designer Donald A Morgan.

Actress Rita Moreno, who has achieved the coveted EGOT status after winning an Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Grammy, will also be inducted.

Penn is to be recognised for the work of his Community Organised Relief Effort (CORE), which he founded following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

CORE worked with the Los Angeles Fire Department at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and more recently deployed a long-term humanitarian response in Ukraine.

“Sean’s activism and immense humanitarian efforts have had a profound impact on the global community, and he has effectively used his platform to motivate change,” said Kim Coleman, co-chair of the Humanitarian Award Selection Committee.

“Sean is responsible for getting help to people who need it the most. From Haiti to Ukraine to Los Angeles, he is an inspiration to us all,” said co-chair Michael Spiller.

The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award was established in 2002 to honour an individual whose philanthropic efforts exemplify Bob Hope’s own decades-long altruism and positive impact on society.

It is one of the highest honours presented by the Television Academy’s Board of Governors, in conjunction with the Bob & Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation.