Glen Powell, Lili Reinhart and Kesha showed their support for Sydney Sweeney, after she responded to body-shaming comments she received on paparazzi pictures of her.
The 27-year-old star of The White Lotus and Euphoria was pictured sunbathing in a purple bikini at her home in Florida, but she soon found herself a talking point when social media users posted scathing remarks about her body online.
Sydney's iconic reply came in the form of a video montage of some of the backlash on Instagram. ‘Too pale and she needs to lose a few pounds around the middle,’ one jibe read. Others called her ‘frumpy’, ‘butterface’ and ‘very chunky’ and compared her to Miss Piggy. The actress shared these alongside clips of her working out in the gym, looking toned and muscular.
Sydney has bulked up to play American former professional boxing champion Christy Martin in David Michod’s upcoming biopic.
‘I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman – a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring,’ she said in October, as she shared photos of her on set. ‘Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honoured to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all.’
Celeb pals such as Glen – who co-starred with Sydney in Anyone But You – and Riverdale star Lili applauded her. ‘You’re such a badass. This movie is gonna be [fire],’ Glen said, with Lili commenting, ‘It’s always wild to see people publicly out-themselves as pieces of shit with comments like that. You look incredible and your dedication to your project is very inspiring.’
Singer Kesha added, ‘Strong baddie’ and actress Isabela Merced said, ‘The thing is these people would never say it in person. Too scared. But if they ever did? best believe it’s hands.’ Fellow Hollywood stars Phoebe Dyvenor, Rachel Brosnahan, Madison Bailey, Lukas Gage and Madelyn Cline also stood up for Sydney.
It’s not the first time that Sydney has stood up and responded to body shamers. In May 2021, she posted a video of herself getting emotional on Instagram after she was ‘trending on Twitter… for being ugly’.
‘I know everyone says, "You can't read things” and “You shouldn't read things” but like, I'm a f***ing person,’ said the two-time Emmy nominee, through tears. ‘I think it's really important for people to see how words actually affect people. People need to be nicer on social media because it's really f***ed up.’
It comes after Sydney hit back at the ‘fake’ Hollywood grandstanding about ‘women empowering other women’, following film producer Carol Baum who said that the star was ‘not pretty’ and ‘can’t act’. Carol later expressed regret over the comments, saying that she wished she never made her original remarks and that criticising an actor in public usually wasn’t her style.
Sydney told Vanity Fair, ‘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. This entire industry, all people say is “Women empowering other women”.’
She added, ‘None of it is happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other shit that they say behind everyone’s back. I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m just trying my best over here. Why am I getting attacked?’