Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun Are Kissing For the Paparazzi (And It's Hilarious)

The news that Sydney Sweeney was dating Scooter Braun felt like it was brewed in a Celebrity Hot Takes lab designed to leave us all even more exhausted in 2025. The actress and jeans saleswoman had paired up with Justin Bieber’s former manager and Taylor Swift’s biggest enemy? Sure, why not? It was a discourse-creating machine, one that the many stans of social media would unite around in hilarity and bafflement. It’s sure to inspire a much-analysed Taylor swong one of these days.

Until then, the pair are keeping it casual with a totally spontaneous and not-at-all cringe smooching session in Central Park. They even sat on an inconspicuous rock to helpfully give the photographers easy access to their loved-up show.

The look of love right down the camera lens. Love it.

According to People, Sweeney’s family and friends are ‘really happy about this relationship.’ And Scooter’s friends think ‘she’s smart, kind, and fun, and she appreciates how he really sees her for who she is beyond all the noise.’ Sure, okay. Very normal stuff. This is how people talk in real life.

I do think they really like one another and that this isn’t a PR set-up. There’s no way any publicist would think that a good way to help Sweeney with her currently tumultuous image problems would be to pair up with the guy who got ethered by Taylor and is blamed by many Bieber fans for hindering his life and career. He’s not even a good villain, he’s pure middle management loser energy. Frankly, this entire pap-walk set-up reeks of 2011 shenanigans, another sign of how Braun’s style of management fell out of favour. Photos like this always reek of fakeness. It looks like sponcon for itself.

Sweeney’s hoping to be on the Oscar trail this season with Christy, which our own Lindsey reviewed at TIFF and said was not good. Frankly, Sydney’s reviews are not there when compared to her competition, like Jessie Buckley, Renate Reinsve, Chase Infiniti, Rose Byrne, Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Hudson, and Emma Stone. If the Oscars is a big old popularity contest, she’s certainly lagging in several key ways.

Do you think she likes calling him Scooter? Can we ever trust a grown man who calls himself that? It’s a name reserved exclusively for Muppets, in my opinion.