Sydney Sweeney has become a massive star with appearances in Euphoria and The White Lotus. Other recent appearances include Madame Web and Immaculate. Now Hollywood producer Carol Baum is targeting Sydney Sweeney, claiming that she both “isn’t pretty” and “can’t act.”
This opinion was shared by Baum during a Q&A for the 1988 film Dead Ringers. Other credits of Baum’s include Father of the Bride, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Fly Away Home. As shared via Daily Mail, she said the following to New York Times film critic Janet Maslin:
“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,” regarding Sweeney’s film Anyone But You.
“I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her,” she continued.
“I watched this unwatchable movie – sorry to people who love this movie – [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.”
To further elaborate her criticisms, Baum referenced her class at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where she asked the class the following while teaching:
“Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?”
The class apparently responded with a question:
“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.”
Additionally, after her comments went viral, a representative for Sydney Sweeney shared a response via Variety. Here’s what they had to say about Baum:
“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.”
Following the backlash, Carol Baum told TMZ that she wishes she would have never made the comments and that “crapping on an actor in public like that” isn’t usually her style.
It’s certainly a strong statement from Carol Baum at a time when moviegoers are forming their own opinions about Sydney Sweeney. Especially when three films of hers have been released in the previous six months. She’s one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and only time will tell where her career takes her next.