Sydney Sweeney

For the third season of Euphoria, Sam Levinson explained that he had considered filming Cassie without nudity, but Sweeney felt that avoiding it would be artificial because the adult character worked as an OnlyFans model. The episode revived longstanding debate about the sexualisation of the actress and her character.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Directly implicated

Sweeney and Dr. Squatch marketed a limited-edition soap described as containing drops of water from the actress's bath during an advertisement. The product generated fascination, criticism concerning objectification and allegations of fetish marketing, and was subsequently resold at extremely high prices.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

The American Eagle campaign 'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' explicitly played on 'jeans/genes', notably in a video referring to hair and eye colour. Some critics saw eugenic or supremacist imagery associated with a blonde, blue-eyed woman, while conservative figures celebrated the campaign as anti-'woke'.

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Directly implicated

During filming and promotion of Anyone But You, the public closeness between Sweeney and Glen Powell triggered affair rumours, particularly as Powell was separating from his partner. Sweeney was still in a relationship with Jonathan Davino and publicly rejected the suggestion of an affair.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Producer Carol Baum publicly stated that Sweeney was 'not pretty' and 'can't act', while describing Anyone But You as 'unwatchable'. The incident prompted debate about sexism, rivalry between women and Hollywood's treatment of actresses' appearances.

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Directly implicated

In an interview about power dynamics in Hollywood, Sweeney described part of the industry's rhetoric around female empowerment as 'fake', saying she was discouraged to see established women publicly attack younger or rising women.

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Personally implicated

Photographs from Sweeney's mother's birthday party showed a guest wearing a Blue Lives Matter symbol and several guests wearing red caps visually resembling MAGA caps, triggering speculation about the political views of Sweeney and her family.

State of the evidence

Documented

Cassie's extensive nudity in Euphoria fuelled debate about the sexualisation of young female characters and the attention directed towards Sweeney. The actress explained that she had asked Sam Levinson to remove several moments where she considered the nudity unnecessary.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated