Sean Penn has blasted the organizers of the Oscars of being cowards who, in effect, limit the kind of films that can be funded and made.

In a fiery speech at the Marrakech Film Festival, Sean Penn accused the Academy Awards of limiting artistic expression and cultural diversity, calling them cowards for their choices. He criticized the Oscars for their lack of support for innovative filmmaking and diversity within the industry.

The Oscar-winning ‘Milk’ star made the comments at the Marrakech Film Festival where he was honored for his longtime acting and directing career

Actor / Director Sean Penn has criticised the Academy and Hollywood, especially for its lack of courage when it comes to funding films that expand "cultural expressions". He also slammed how the system made it difficult for the Donald Trump origin story 'The Apprentice' to find a distributor.

"The Academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the bigger world of expression, and in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and very limiting of different cultural expressions,