Yahoo Lifestyle “None Of It’s Happening”: Sydney Sweeney Slammed The “Fake” Idea That Women In Hollywood Are “Empowering Other Women”
Sydney Sweeney just shared some brutally honest insight into her experience as a woman in Hollywood.
As I’m sure you know, Sydney is one of her generation's most prominent up-and-coming actors, having starred in hit shows like Euphoria and The White Lotus, as well as more recent movies like Immaculate and Anyone But You.
And while she’s quickly becoming one of the most sought-after stars in Hollywood, both as an actor and a top producer, not everyone has been so supportive of her rise.
As you may remember, earlier this year, Sydney was unfairly criticized by a Hollywood producer who — totally unprovoked — questioned her talent following the global success of Anyone But You, which made over $220 million at the box office.
According to reports, Carol Baum — who produced projects like Father of the Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer — told New York Times film critic Janet Maslin that she didn’t understand Sydney’s success because she’s “not pretty” and “can’t act.”
“There’s an actress who everybody loves now: Sydney Sweeney. I don’t get Sydney Sweeney. I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie because I wanted to watch it,” Baum said, describing Anyone But You as an “unwatchable movie.”
The producer, also an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, recalled asking students in her class to “explain” Sydney’s appeal and why she’s “so hot.”
“Nobody had an answer,” she added.
At the time, a representative for Sydney hit back at the comments, saying in a statement provided to Variety that Baum’s disparaging remarks about a “fellow female producer” spoke “volumes” about her character.
“How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman,” the statement read. “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.”
Now, in a new interview with Vanity Fair, Sydney was asked about her decision to respond to Baum’s comments, prompting her to pull back the curtain on the wider issues women in Hollywood face.
“It’s very disheartening to see women tear other women down, especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard — hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have — and then trying to bash and discredit any work that they’ve done,” she said.
Sydney then said that the idea of “women empowering other women” in Hollywood is a facade to mask the negativity behind the scenes in the industry.
“This entire industry, all people say is ‘Women empowering other women,’” she said. “None of it’s happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other shit that they say behind everyone’s back.”
Analyzing the possible reasons for this, Sydney suggested that the problem stems from women and girls being raised to believe they must compete for the top spot in all aspects of life.
“I’ve read that our entire lives, we were raised — and it’s a generational problem — to believe only one woman can be at the top,” she said. “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 concluded: “I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m just trying my best over here. Why am I getting attacked?”
Are you surprised by Sydney's comments? LMK in the comments. Here’s where you can read her full interview with Vanity Fair for the 2025 Hollywood Issue.
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