Sidney Sweeney is facing backlash as she laments being misjudged despite wearing an unimaginative dress.
The “Euphoria” star reflected on “being underestimated by letting people define me before I had a chance to define myself,” during a speech at Variety’s “Power of Women” event in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.
“I know what it feels like to have to prove that you deserve to be here and be noticed and taken seriously,” the actress told the audience while rocking a bold transparent, curve-hugging silver dress by Christian Cowan.
Netizens took to Instagram to criticize Sweeney’s fashion choices at the soiree, where the “White Lotus” actress was an award recipient.
“She’s literally speaking on the podium on ‘Power of Women’ about being undervalued, even though she’s wearing a dress that reveals more of her body than her message,” one person wrote.
“How am I supposed to focus on her words when her breasts are presented first?” they added.
Another commented, “Beautiful dress but wrong occasion to wear it,” and yet another wrote, “That dress overwhelms instead of empowering.”
“It gives her no power to show her body being objectified which she was complaining about,” a fourth wrote, while a fifth chimed in: “‘Wow people don’t take my acting seriously’.”
A representative for the actress did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
At the event, Sweeney, 28, also talked about starring as groundbreaking boxer Christy Martin in the new film Christie.
“I’m not a fighter in the ring, but I see something of myself in[Martin],” Sweeney said at the event, referring to Martin’s struggles as a gay woman in the predominantly male boxing industry, exploited by her trainer husband.
“We all have our own battles, and Christy reminds us that sometimes strength doesn’t seem great, and sometimes it’s just standing up again and again, no matter who’s watching,” she added.
Fellow blonde beauty Sharon Stone defended Sweeney, who faced backlash for his controversial American Eagle ad in the summer, in a red carpet interview at a women’s empowerment event.
“It’s okay to use what momma gave me. It’s really okay. Look, it’s hard when it’s hot, and I think we all know that,” the “Basic Instinct” star, 67, said.
“And it’s really okay to try anything with all the enthusiasm that I have here right now.”
Stone added, “Because everyone has their own charm and their own charm. And you have to pursue that. Because who isn’t beautiful? Who you are is not a coincidence.”
Sweeney previously came under fire after appearing in an American Eagle campaign over the summer, which some felt was a play on the words “jeans” and “genes” to promote “Nazi propaganda” and eugenics.
At the Toronto International Film Festival in September, she declined to discuss the controversy.
“I’m here to support my film and the people who made it. I’m not here to talk about jeans,” she told Vanity Fair at the time.
