Sydney Sweeney caught a stray last week when veteran Hollywood producer Carol Baum said at an event that Sweeney is “not pretty” and “can’t act” — and that her hit rom-com “Anyone but You” was “unwatchable.”
A representative for Sweeney has now fired back at Baum, saying in a statement shared with 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 she 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.
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Baum, a longtime Hollywood producer and executive behind films including “Dead Ringers,” “Father of the Bride” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” made the disparaging comments about Sweeney during a discussion in Pleasantville, NY, with New York Times film critic Janet Maslin. According to the Daily Mail, Baum said, “There’s an actress who everyone loves now: Sydney Sweeney. I don’t get Sydney Sweeney. I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie [‘Anyone but You’] because I wanted to watch it. I wanted to know who she is and why everyone’s talking about her. “I watched this unwatchable movie — sorry to people who love this… romantic comedy where they hate each other.”
Baum, who is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, continued: “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. Ella she’s not pretty, she ca n’t act. ‘Why is she so hot?’ 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?’ …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.”
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A representative for Baum did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment, but TMZ reported Wednesday that the producer is “already expressing regret over the whole thing” and “wishes she would never make her original comments.”
As for Sweeney, the “Euphoria” and “White Lotus” breakout star is on a hot streak, producing and starring in her indie horror film “Immaculate” right on the heels of her “Anyone but You” success. That film — which she executive produced — was a surprise hit, raking in $218 million worldwide.
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