Sydney Sweeney hits back at 'sad and shameful' producer who said she ‘can’t act’ and ‘isn’t pretty’
18 April 2024, 19:18 | Updated: 18 April 2024, 19:21
Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney has hit back at comments from a Hollywood producer who claimed she ‘can’t act’ and ‘isn’t pretty’.
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Sweeney, 26, branded comments made by Hollywood producer Carol Baum as ‘shameful’.
Baum, who produced Dead Ringers and the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, made the remarks after a screening of one of her films last week.
Now Sweeney has said she felt “unjustly disparaged” as she released a statement in response.
A representative for the actress told Variety: “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."
In her original comments, Baum told a live audience after a screening of her 1988 film Dead Ringers: “There's an actress who everybody loves now – Sydney Sweeney. I don't get Sydney Sweeney.”
The producer, who teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, said: “I said to my class, 'Explain this girl to me. She's not pretty, she can't act. Why is she so hot?
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“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.”
Discussing Sweeney’s recent rom-com Anyone But You, Baum also said: “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. I watched this unwatchable movie – sorry to people who love this movie – [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.”
Fans rushed to Sweeney’s defence after the comments, including a co-producer on her upcoming films Immaculate.
The Immaculate producer Teddy Schwarzman wrote on X: “I’ll enlighten Ms. Baum that two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney is not only one of the most talented actresses I’ve worked with, but also incredibly smart, kind and humble.”
Baum has since admitted she wishes she never made the remarks, as she told TMZ that “cr**ing on an actor like that in public usually isn't her style”.
