Sydney Sweeney: Female empowerment in Hollywood is fake

Sydney Sweeney said women were raised to see each other as the competition. Photo / Getty Images

The Euphoria actress speaks out against the ‘disheartening’ trend of women tearing other women down.

Sydney Sweeney has condemned “fake” empowerment of women in Hollywood, months after a female producer said she “can’t act”.

The actress and producer, who rose to prominence in TV series and films such as Euphoria and Anyone But You, said it was “disheartening” to see the women of Hollywood tear each other down.

Speaking to magazine Vanity Fair, Sweeney said: “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: “This entire industry, all people say is ‘Women empowering other women’. None of it’s happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other s*** that they say behind everyone’s back.”

The White Lotus actress, who is reportedly returning to film the third series of Euphoria in the new year, said it was a “generational problem” and women were raised to see themselves as in competition with other women.

Sydney Sweeney starred in the first series of The White Lotus. Photo / HBO

In April, Sweeney responded to Carol Baum, a Hollywood producer, who told an audience at a film screening that she “can’t act”.

Baum, who produced hits including Dead Ringers and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, said she “didn’t get” the hype about the 27-year-old actress, saying: “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?’”

Responding, a representative for Sweeney said: “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 learnt in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful.”

The spokesman continued: “To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms Baum’s character”.

The producer, who teaches at the University of Southern California, later said that she regretted her comments.