Sydney Sweeney addressed the criticism she faced earlier this year from Hollywood producer Carol Baum, who called her “not pretty” and said she “can’t act,” even dubbing her rom-com Anyone but You as “unwatchable.” In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Sweeney opened up about the broader issue of women tearing each other down in the industry.
Sweeney expressed her frustration with the hypocrisy of Hollywood’s supposed message of “women empowering women.” She said, “None of it’s happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other sh*t that they say behind everyone’s back.”
Reflecting on the deep-rooted cultural issue, Sweeney noted that women are often raised to believe that only one woman can succeed, leading to competition rather than collaboration. “There’s one woman who can get the man. There’s one woman who can be, I don’t know, anything. So then all the others feel like they have to fight each other or take that one woman down instead of being like, ‘Let’s all lift each other up,'” she explained.
Baum, a veteran producer known for her work on Dead Ringers and Father of the Bride, made her disparaging comments about Sweeney during a discussion in Pleasantville, N.Y. When asked about Sweeney’s appeal, Baum questioned, “Why is she so hot?” adding that she couldn’t understand Sweeney’s popularity.
In response, Sweeney’s rep slammed Baum for attacking another woman and questioned her professionalism, saying, “If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach her students, that’s shameful.”