Sharon Stone attended Variety’s “Power of Women” LA event on Wednesday and was scheduled to honor Sidney Sweeney as one of the night’s honorees. The two actresses have been working on Euphoria Season 3 for several months, including after Sweeney’s controversial appearance in an American Eagle ad campaign in July. The commercial centered around the slogan “Sidney Sweeney has great jeans,” a play on “great genes.” The ad drew backlash from critics who said it glorified Sweeney’s white heritage and physique.
“It’s okay to use what momma gave me. It’s really okay,” Stone told Variety’s senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson on the carpet, expressing her support for Sweeney. “It’s hard to be sexy. I think we all know that. It’s okay to use all the sexiness you have, right here, right now, and try anything. Everyone has their own particular kind of sexiness, their own particular thing, and you should go for it. Because who are you not beautiful? You know, who you are is not an accident.”
Stone recounted a conversation he had with Sweeney when the two actresses were still working on Euphoria and the “great jeans” controversy was taking hold.
“I was a co-godmother with Jane Goodall, so I said, ‘When Jane was on the cover of Life Magazine for her work with gorillas, she was wearing safari pants and a shirt and was sitting with one of the animals she was working with. The other scientists said, ‘Well, Jane was on the cover of Life Magazine only because she had good legs.’ And Jane said, ‘Well, that will help us get more money for research,”’ Stone said. “Sydney said, ‘Well, I think I made a billion dollars at the jeans company, and that’s fine. Because, you know what? I’m going to get another job.’
Stone will be a new addition to the ensemble for season 3 of Euphoria. It is reported that season 3 will begin after a time jump of several years from season 2. Sweeney reprises her role from the first two seasons, and the cast also includes Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Eric Dane, Alexa Demme, Maud Apatow, and Coleman Domingo. Stone may be new to the series, but he’s a longtime Euphoria fan.
“I had to watch it for the 67th time just to catch up again,” Stone joked. “It was a pleasure to work with such wonderful young people.”
Director Paul Feig, Sweeney’s co-star in the new thriller The Housemaid, also spoke out in support of Sweeney in a Power of Women Variety cover story, saying the “great jeans” controversy was “created” by “a certain segment of the media.”
“She’s probably one of the most confident people I’ve ever met in my life, in a good way. She’s very insightful,” Feig said.
In addition to Sweeney, Wanda Sykes, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nicole Scherzinger and Kate Hudson were honored at Variety’s Los Angeles Power event on Wednesday.
