Sydney Sweeney's incredible response to producer who randomly slammed her (2024)

A representative for Sydney Sweeney has issued a fiery statement in response to a top Hollywood producer who said Sweeney ‘isn’t pretty’ and ‘can’t act.’

Carol Baum, who produced significant blockbusters like Father of the Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and now teaches at a university, recently slated the 26-year-old actress in front of a large audience in New York, saying she can’t understand why Sweeney is so popular.

In response to the seemingly random attack, Sweeney’s rep told Metro.co.uk: ‘How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman.

‘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.’

The Euphoria actress is one of the fastest-rising Gen Z stars – but she can’t seem to escape being the center of bizarre online discourse.

First, her boobs were made into a political symbol for the far right, and now she’s facing petty insults from one of Hollywood’s top female producers.

In a talkback session after a showing of Baum’s 1988 film Dead Ringers, Baum spoke with New York Times film critic Janet Maslin about the current state of the film industry.

She said: ‘There’s an actress who everybody loves now – Sydney Sweeney.’

The producer went on to say that she watched Sweeney’s rom-com Anyone But You on a plane and was not impressed by Sweeney’s performance: ‘I don’t get Sydney Sweeney. I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie because I wanted to watch it.

‘I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her,’ she told Maslin and the audience.

‘I watched this unwatchable movie – sorry to people who love this movie – [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.’

Referencing her position as a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Baum continued: ‘I said to my class, “Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?”

‘Nobody had an answer but then the question was asked, “Well if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?”

‘I said, “Well that’s a really good question…that’s a very hard question to answer because we all want to get the movie made and who walks away from a green light? Nobody I know. Your job is to get the movie made.”’

Janet Maslin later confirmed that the exchange did take place and agreed that the film is unwatchable, posting on X: ‘It IS unwatchable. Carol Baum said this after we screened “Dead Ringers” at the Jacob Burns Film Center and she mentioned having seen “Anyone But You” on a plane. But “Dead Ringers,” b/o a book Baum optioned 10 years before David Cronenberg adapted it, gets better and better.’

Baum has produced 34 films in total and is perhaps best known for her work with Sandollar Productions, Dolly Parton’s TV and film production company with Sandy Gallin, Parton’s former manager.

While Baum may think this puts her in a position to comment freely on celebrity’s looks and talent, she is actually contributing to the sexism in Hollywood that she herself likely had to battle to make it to her current position.

Sweeney has indeed been the topic of a lot of buzz recently, starring in three major movies in just the last six months: Madame Web, Immaculate, and Anyone But You. She is also known for her work on the first season of the hit show The White Lotus and her breakout role as Cassie on Euphoria, for which she’s received much critical acclaim and received and Emmy nomination.

The Washington State-born actress has become something of a sex symbol, gaining media and fan attention for her bodacious figure and good looks. Bizarrely, this phenomenon has been the subject of controversy.

The star recently hosted Saturday Night Live and wore a low-cut dress, causing some to take to the Internet to either decry or celebrate her breasts as symbols of ‘anti-wokeness’ (woke is a slang term widely accepted to mean alert to prejudice and discrimination).

Why? Because she is a conventionally attractive blonde with sizeable breasts, so celebrating her conventional beauty must mean we no longer have to ‘pretend’ to be interested in diversity. Indeed, online users seemed to suggest that Sweeney’s sex appeal is the only reason for her stardom. It was, of course, a deeply flawed argument, but that didn’t stop it from catching fire online.

Baum’s comments represent the same phenomenon of Sweeney not being taken seriously for her work because of her status as a sex symbol. The subtext of Baum’s comment has the same sexist roots as the idea that Sweeney’s rise to fame is somehow an indicator of the death of wokeness.

In dismissing Sweeney as untalented and not ‘pretty’ while acknowledging that she’s ‘hot,’ Baum was likely trying to do the same thing that far-right X users were: Reduce Sweeney and her success to nothing but her sex appeal and large breasts.

While beauty and talent are subjective and Baum has every right to her opinion, it’s worth noting that her comments are very likely part of a larger cultural problem.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Sydney Sweeney hailed perfect ‘final girl’ in new horror movie about a pregnant nun

MORE : How Sydney Sweeney’s boobs became a political symbol