Hollywood TV host and Golden Globes anchor Marc Malkin found himself stranded on the highway in the desert Friday when the battery of his electric vehicle died as he was headed back to L.A. from the Palm Springs Film Festival on Jan. 5.
The TV host, who co-hosted the Golden Globe awards’ official pre-show on Sunday, ended up having to call a tow truck to have his EV taken to a nearby charging station to try and juice back up.
But according to insiders reported by PageSix, Malkin was met with a wild situation once his vehicle was dropped off at the charging station.
When he got to a charging stall, Malkin reportedly found himself charging up right next to Oscar winner Sean Penn who was also charging his EV. And next to Penn was his longtime publicist Mara Buxbaum, similarly charging her EV.
The cozy moment didn’t last long before Malkin found that his car would not take a charge.
Sean Penn saves Golden Globes pre-show host Marc Malkin after his car gets stranded in desert https://t.co/YdzGiWURVG pic.twitter.com/YtMl68ZR5C
— Page Six (@PageSix) January 7, 2024
He reportedly called his EV dealer and was told that the car wouldn’t charge because he let the battery completely deplete.
But he decided to try and push his car to a different charger and try his luck a second time.
Malkin found out he was no Arnold Schwarzenegger, though, and was struggling to push the vehicle to the targeted charging stall. And the next thing he knew, both Penn and Buxbaum were behind his vehicle helping him push it to the stall.
Buxbaum reportedly “came up to him and asked if he needed his car pushed,” the source told PageSix. “She said, ‘You need someone to push your car?’” And then Penn joined the party.
“It was the funniest thing ever,” the source added. “Sean was a real-life hero.”
It all ended well as the new stall was able to get Malkin’s EV up and running again and he was able to get home in time for several pre-Globes parties Friday night and to co-host the Golden Globes show on Sunday.
Penn, who has recently been an extremely vocal advocate for Ukraine in its desperate war against invading Russians, was attending Variety’s Creative Impact Awards in Palm Springs to introduce honoree Penelope Cruz at the event.
Cruz was the recipient of the Creative Impact in Acting Award.
Penn gushed about Cruz onstage, saying in part, “When she wants us to understand, we do. When she wants us to feel, we feel, because she lets us.”
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