Spare a thought for Sydney Sweeney! Yes, she is young, beautiful, rich and talented, but she has also been getting it from all sides this week. Her passion project has bombed at the box office; she is still paying for a jeans advertisement she did four months ago, and being called on to address charges of having joked about eugenics; and fellow members of the Hollywood elite are breaking ranks to express their disdain (in one case, with a vomiting emoji). And, as she found out this week, she can\u2019t even enjoy a kiss with her controversial new boyfriend without being snapped by the callous paparazzi!<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know when Sweeney\u2019s name next crops up \u2013 which, if current trends continue, will be soon.<\/p>\n
Sweeney with Glen Powell in Anyone But You. Photograph: Brook Rushton\/Sony Pictures Entertainment<\/p>\n
1. She\u2019s dating Taylor Swift\u2019s arch-nemesis 2. Bezos wants her for Bond<\/p>\n Sweeney (left) at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with Jeff Bezos. Photograph: Dave Benett\/VF25\/WireImage for Vanity Fair<\/p>\n Braun is not the only pop-culture \u201cbad guy\u201d Sweeney is cosy with. The couple reportedly connected at Jeff Bezos\u2019s Venice wedding to Lauren S\u00e1nchez in June. Sweeney\u2019s attendance at the lavish event initially raised eyebrows, given her lack of public connection to the Amazon founder, but was later explained as a money move, with Sweeney attached to a forthcoming blockbuster from Amazon MGM Studios. A source told Page Six<\/a> that Sweeney \u201cis not friends with either\u201d Bezos or S\u00e1nchez, but \u201ccame to pay respects to the \u2018boss\u2019, just like in the old days of Hollywood\u201d. Sweeney is also reported<\/a> to be launching a lingerie line, backed by the private equity firm Coatue \u2013 where Scooter Braun\u2019s friend Ben Schwerin, formerly of Snapchat, is a general partner \u2013 and $1bn in investment from Bezos and his bride. Bezos is now allegedly pushing<\/a> for Sweeney to be made the next Bond girl.<\/p>\n 3. She\u2019s been dealt a KO blow at the box office<\/p>\n Sydney Sweeney in Christy. Photograph: Eddy Chen\/AP<\/p>\n Sweeney\u2019s starring role in Christy, David Mich\u00f4d\u2019s biopic about the trailblazing boxer Christy Martin, has been widely interpreted<\/a> as a bid to cement her as a serious actor, proving her chops with a physical transformation<\/a> and gruelling training regimen. The film has received mixed reviews and, last week, bombed at the US box office, opening to just $1.3m. Sweeney, who made her name as an actor on the HBO teen drama<\/a> Euphoria, has taken the blow in her stride, declaring on Instagram<\/a> that she remained proud of the picture. \u201cWhy? Because we don\u2019t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. She \u2018did a jean ad\u2019<\/p>\n An advert featuring Sweeney outside an American Eagle store in Times Square, New York. Photograph: Timothy A Clary\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Sweeney\u2019s art, however, is increasingly at risk of being overshadowed by her controversies. In July, an ad for the denim company American Eagle, showing Sweeney decked out in denim with the tagline \u201cSydney Sweeney has great jeans\u201d sparked instant controversy, seen by some as catering to the \u201cmale gaze\u201d and subtly promoting whiteness<\/a>. Since then, when asked about the ad on red carpets<\/a>, Sweeney has barely been able to conceal her exasperation. Last week, she finally addressed the controversy \u2013 sort of.<\/p>\n \u201cI did a jean ad,\u201d she, witheringly, told<\/a> GQ. \u201cI mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I\u2019m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.\u201d Offered the chance to respond to criticism that \u201cwhite people shouldn\u2019t joke about genetic superiority\u201d, Sweeney demurred: \u201cI think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.\u201d Her flippant, eye-rolling \u2013 not to mention, much belated \u2013 response to the controversy hasn\u2019t won her fans.<\/p>\n 5. She\u2019s been adopted by the right<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s not just about the \u201cjean ad\u201d. In August, Sweeney was shown to have registered as a<\/a> Republican voter, not long after recent family photos were published showing guests wearing Maga-style caps. Sweeney also registered in tax-friendly Florida, shortly after purchasing a $13.5m mansion. At the time, she dismissed the reporting of the images as \u201can absurd political statement\u201d and asked the public to \u201cstop making assumptions\u201d. She has not commented on her politics, but the publicly accessible documents have for many been proof enough. Regardless of Sweeney\u2019s relationship to the Republican party, they have been eager to align with her. Texas senator Ted Cruz declared<\/a> criticism of the jean ad evidence that \u201cthe crazy left has come out against beautiful women\u201d. And President Trump was also quick to lend his endorsement<\/a> (\u201cthe \u2018HOTTEST\u2019 ad out there \u2026 Go get \u2018em, Sydney!\u201d).<\/p>\n 6. She\u2019s not the most popular woman in Hollywood<\/p>\n This week, White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood<\/a>, musician SZA and actor Christina Ricci reportedly liked<\/a> an Instagram video criticising Sweeney\u2019s dismissive response to the American Eagle saga. (Wood also posted a<\/a> vomiting emoji elsewhere.) Orange Is the New Black actor Ruby Rose (who lost out on the Christy role) also laid into Sweeney on Instagram Threads, writing<\/a>: \u201cYou\u2019re a cretin and you ruined the film. Period. Christy deserved better.\u201d Rose\u2019s objection was to an apparent Republican playing a gay woman: \u201cNone of \u2018the people\u2019 want to see someone who hates them, parading around pretending to be us.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. She\u2019s also regular fodder for the discourse machine<\/p>\n Between her sex-symbol status and her place in the culture wars, Sweeney is a recurring trending topic on X, variously lusted over and reviled. Last December, candid photos of the actor sparked<\/a> what X generously described as \u201cdebates over beauty standards\u201d that waged for several days. (Think Andrew Tate acolytes calling Sweeney \u201cmid\u201d and a \u201ccatfish\u201d.) This week, a screenshot of her implacable response to the GQ interviewer has been taken up by right-wingers as a meme-ish expression of ideological superiority.<\/p>\n The unseemly discourse is not just limited to online. After Sweeney played a Hooters waitress<\/a> on SNL last year, the Spectator declared<\/a>: \u201cYay! Boobs are back!\u201d While, last month, conservative commentator Megyn Kelly railed<\/a> against Sweeney\u2019s sheer red-carpet gown: \u201cI object.\u201d In 2021, Sweeney tearfully addressed<\/a> social-media trolling; more recently she has tried to rise above it, laughing off photographers\u2019 demands<\/a> to \u201cshow us those boobs\u201d at the 2022 Met Gala. \u201cIt\u2019s this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over,\u201d she told Variety last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n 8. She\u2019s not above selling out \u2026<\/p>\n Sweeney has established herself as a businesswoman, producing many of her recent films. She\u2019s not been shy about chasing brand deals, promoting flip phones<\/a>, face creams<\/a>, ice-cream<\/a> and \u201csuper soft slippers\u201d<\/a>. \u201cIf I just acted, I wouldn\u2019t be able to afford my life in LA \u2026 They don\u2019t pay actors like they used to,\u201d Sweeney explained in 2022<\/a>. Earlier this year, Sweeney partnered with a \u201cmen\u2019s personal company\u201d to produce a limited edition soap, marketed as containing a \u201ctouch\u201d of her own bath water. \u201cWhy? Because y\u2019all wouldn\u2019t stop asking,\u201d said the company<\/a>, Dr Squatch, giving the soap\u2019s scent as \u201cmorning wood\u201d.<\/p>\n 9. \u2026 but now she could do with a win<\/p>\n Sweeney in Americana. Photograph: Ursula Coyote<\/p>\n Sweeney has re-cast box-office misfires as stepping stones to success. As her co-stars strained to apologise for their part in 2024\u2019s disastrous Madame Web<\/a>, Sweeney explained<\/a> it as one of her \u201cstrategic business decisions\u201d, enabling her \u201cto build a relationship with Sony\u201d that later led to Anyone But You. The charming 2023 romcom<\/a> was a surprise hit, buoyed up by Sweeney\u2019s on-screen chemistry (and rumoured romance) with her co-star Glen Powell. That same year, Sweeney delivered a powerful performance<\/a> in Reality, playing an NSA whistleblower word-for-word from the interrogation transcript. But this year all four of Sweeney\u2019s tentpole projects \u2013 Ron Howard\u2019s historical thriller Eden, the cowboy crime-drama Americana, the straight-to-streaming Echo Valley<\/a>, and now Oscar bait Christy \u2013 have fallen flat at the box office. Sweeney\u2019s still standing, but if she is to get off the ropes, she\u2019ll need a win soon.<\/p>\n
Since September, Sweeney has been romantically linked with Scooter Braun, the music mogul best known for allegedly holding<\/a> Taylor Swift\u2019s song catalogue hostage. The pairing has generated discussion online for its apparent randomness and 16-year age gap, but they haven\u2019t shied away from attention, either, being photographed together on several long and outdoors-y dates. The happy couple were recently papped<\/a> sharing an intimate yet also highly visible moment, kissing on a rock in Central Park \u2013 suggesting they are at least not averse to publicity. Sweeney may be comfortable writing herself off the guest list for Swift\u2019s wedding, but her affiliation with Swift\u2019s arch-villain hasn\u2019t helped with her increasingly embattled public image.<\/p>\n