Sydney Sweeney in Key West before producer’s ‘shameful’ comments about her went viral
On Saturday night, Sydney Sweeney looked to be having a blast in Key West, Florida.
Little did she know a few days later, she’d be caught up in a not so fun Internet firestorm.
Cellphone footage posted by TMZ shows Sweeney doing karaoke at the Backyard Bar with her pal Hadley Robinson. The two, who costarred as sisters in 2023’s “Anyone But You,” belt out such tunes as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Sweet Caroline” and “Unwritten.”
By Tuesday, Sweeney’s ears may have been burning.
Because insulting comments about her from a recent discussion in New York began making the rounds.
As per The Daily Mail, the “White Lotus” star’s name came up during a Q&A between journalist Janet Maslin and Hollywood producer Carol Baum on April 11. They had just screened Baum’s 1988 horror flick “Dead Ringers” when the topic of Sweeney came up.
Baum, a professor at the University of Southern California, admitted she’d caught “Anyone But You” while on an airplane in order to see what the fuss was about with Sweeney.
“I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me,’” said Baum, adding that the rom-com was “unwatchable.” “She’s not pretty. She can’t act. Why is she so hot?’‘
Her dis soon went viral, and not in a good way, with many folks coming to the actress’ defense. Like her “Immaculate” producer Teddy Schwarzman, who posted that Sweeney was not only “talented,” but “incredibly smart, humble and kind ... and a badass scream queen.”
Adding fuel to the e-dumpster fire, Maslin double-downed on X, defending her interviewee: “It IS unwatchable,” the venerated critic wrote. “But ‘Dead Ringers’ ... gets better and better.”
Incidentally, “Anyone But You,” costarring “Top Gun” hunk Glen Powell as Sweeney’s on-again, off-again love interest, went on to gross $218.8 million at the global box office.
Sweeney, through her agent, released a statement on Wednesday.
“How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman,” the Washington native’s rep said. “If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful. To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms. Baum’s character.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2024 at 12:23 PM.
