Leave Sydney Sweeney Alone! Producer Says She's 'Not Pretty,' 'Can't Act'

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | April 17, 2024 |

By Emily Richardson | Celebrity | April 17, 2024 |

What the actual hell is going on with all the discourse surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s looks? First, there was Slate’s “her boobs aren’t even that big”! Then the conservatives creepily declared the actress an ‘anti-woke’ icon because she’s young, hot, blonde, and possesses “an amazing rack”.

Now, producer Carol Baum is adding her two cents to the Sweeney conversation. Carol, described by outlets as a “top Hollywood producer,” is best known for films like Father of the Bride, The Good Girl and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s been working on Hallmark Christmas movies for the last decade. Oh, and she used to be Dolly Parton’s manager. You’d think Dolly’s former manager would have a soft spot for big-breasted blondes, right? WRONG.

This week, Carol made headlines for saying she doesn’t “get” Sydney Sweeney: “she’s not pretty, she can’t act.” And, no, this isn’t a Sony email leak situation; the producer made these comments to an audience after a screening of her film Dead Ringers in Pleasantville, New York.

Carol says she was on an airplane and decided to watch Sydney’s rom com Anyone But You: “I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her.” Unfortunately, Carol was not impressed. She thought Anyone But You was “unwatchable”, and was so confused about Sydney’s appeal that she demanded answers from her students at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts:

“I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?’” she recalled. “Nobody had an answer.”

Hoo boy. I’m sure all the kids love Carol’s class. The adjunct professor adds that, despite her befuddlement over Sydney’s popularity, she wouldn’t turn down a chance to work with the actress if she was the reason a film was getting green-lit:

“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.”

Something tells me that Carol will never be faced with this decision. Listen, I think Sydney is very talented, but I don’t begrudge Carol for thinking the opposite. It is our God-given right to have opinions about which actors can and can’t act. But, why, oh why, attack Sydney’s looks?

Last month, Variety asked Sydney how she felt about the way people talked and wrote about her body. This was her response:

I see it, and I just can’t allow myself to have a reaction. I don’t know how to explain it — I’m still trying to figure it out myself. People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I’ve signed my life away. That I’m not on a human level anymore, because I’m an actor.

That these characters are for everybody else, but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore. It’s this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over.

Well, that sounds absolutely horrible.