Sidney Sweeney once again found herself at the center of national controversy this week.
On Wednesday, the 28-year-old actress left nothing to the imagination as she was honored at the Variety Power of Women event in Beverly Hills, going braless in a sheer silver dress. As usual, social media was bitterly divided over whether it was a “showstopper” or an abomination.
“She’s literally on stage at Power of Women talking about being underrepresented when she’s wearing a dress that reveals more of her body than her message,” was a typical critique on Instagram.
But that was nothing compared to her outrage the night before, when she made a cameo appearance on Fox’s World Series pregame broadcast, shocking nearly 15 million American sports fans.
Wearing a new blonde Marilyn Monroe-style bob, the “Euphoria” actress appeared at Game 4 of the Dodgers-Blue Jays series.
“Victory, real victory, is unrefined. It’s scarred, it’s messy, it’s imperfect, it’s just something you can’t fake. … Let’s save Hollywood for the ending,” she said.
However, some viewers were quick to cast Sweeney as the villain.
“Why the hell am I watching Sidney Sweeney promote the World Series? It’s garbage,” complained one user to X, while others saw it as political divisiveness.
“All the liberals watching the World Series lost their minds when Sidney Sweeney showed up. You’re going to love it,” another wrote.
Months after her high-profile American Eagle jeans campaign caused a similar uproar, Sweeney became a lightning rod for the country. But sources say the haters won’t let her down.
“She’s really great,” former professional boxer Christy Martin told Page Six of Sweeney.
Martin is the real-life inspiration for Sweeney’s new film, “Christie,” which opens Friday. The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski called her performance a “knockout,” and Oscar buzz is already swirling.
“I never could have imagined that Hollywood’s It Girl would get down and dirty and become me,” Martin raved.
Others say the role helped Sweeney find his inner toughness.
A source said, “Sydney has been through a lot in the past with people who abused her.” “This person took advantage of her, including financially.”
Page Six has reached out to Sweeney’s representatives for comment.
Playing Christie “gave her the strength to remember who she is,” the source added.
“Christie actually taught me a lot about myself,” Sweeney himself told an LA audience after an October screening. “She taught me how to be more assertive and feel stronger in my personal and professional life.
“We both fight our own matches in different types of rings. Yeah, we check in on our friends and make sure they’re all okay.”
Regarding the film’s domestic violence storyline (Martin was almost killed by her abusive husband in 2010), Sweeney told Variety: “This is a very personal issue and important to me, and I hope that through Christie and her story, this issue can bring more awareness.”
Tatiana Siegel of Variety wrote, “‘This is personal,’ she repeated, her blue eyes flashing with pain.”
The biopic follows Martin from her small-town roots as a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia to her rise to boxing’s breakout star with her then-husband James Martin, played by Ben Foster, as her manager.
There is also a shocking scene where Martin is stabbed three times and shot in the chest by James as he asks for a divorce. He was later convicted of second-degree murder in the case and sentenced to 25 years in prison, dying in 2024.
At the time of the attack, Martin was the welterweight champion and the first woman to sign with promoter Don King. She is also the first and so far only female boxer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, received a standing ovation and brought Sweeney to tears.
“She lost Sidney Sweeney and found Christie in this movie,” Martin said. “As we know, she’s been put in a tough spot. I think she’s a strong woman. I hope she finds just a little bit more strength to be herself and stand on her own two feet and not let people try to convince her to do something she doesn’t want to do.”
Martin recalled meeting Sweeney for the first time over Zoom and then in person.
“She was doing her homework. She was off about boxing. We talked a little bit about domestic violence,” the athlete said. The film “shows the impact she can have on this world and on the next generation of women who will look up to her and say, ‘Look at what she did.'”
For better or worse, it depends on your point of view.
Sweeney caused a stir over the summer when her American Eagle campaign was criticized as so-called “Nazi propaganda” and a “racist dog whistle.”
“Genes are passed from parent to child and often determine traits such as hair color, personality, and even eye color,” she said on the occasion, adding, “My jeans are blue.”
Despite pressure on American Eagle to cancel the campaign on social media, the company’s stock price soared and clothing sales increased. The Sweeney cinched-waist denim jacket sold out in one day, the Sydney Jean sold out in one week, and the brand attracted nearly 1 million new customers in the three months after the ad went live.
Sweeney’s cleavage sparked a firestorm in 2023, when she wore a series of low necklines on Saturday Night Live, generating a slew of think pieces.
This week, ’90s sex symbol Sharon Stone defended Sweeney at an event for the variety show “Women in Power.”
“You know, it’s hard to be hot, and it’s really okay to try anything with all the hotness you have right here, right now,” Stone said.
After Tuesday’s World Series game, where Sweeney attended the game in Los Angeles with Martin and other friends and stole the spotlight from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who were also in attendance, Sweeney was reportedly furious at a joke about her breasts.
In the HBO series “Euphoria,” in which she co-stars, her “boobs are always on display.” Comedian Eric Griffin said during a show at the Laugh Factory: “She’s in a pharmacy and her boobs are out. It’s wild.”
Sweeney attended the performance with her rumored new boyfriend Scooter Braun, 44, who previously managed the music careers of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, among others.
After Sweeney split from her ex-fiance, restaurateur Jonathan Davino, 42, in March, the two met at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding in Venice in June.
A source previously told People that the relationship broke down after Sweeney realized he wasn’t ready to get married and that his relationship “didn’t feel right.”
A source said Davino and Sweeney “are still friends…he wants her to be happy. They still keep in touch and have a great relationship. They were a team. They run a company together.”
In 2022, Sweeney told The Hollywood Reporter that the salary he earned from “Euphoria” was not enough to live comfortably in Hollywood after paying off agents, managers and others.
“Even if I wanted to take six months off, I wouldn’t have the income to cover it,” she says.
Now she is one of the most influential actresses.
Sweeney’s second season of Euphoria reportedly saw his pay increased to $1 million per episode, while his film fees jumped from $2 million for 2023’s Anyone But You to $7 million for the new film The Housemaid.
“I think Sydney is incredibly talented,” one Hollywood industry insider told Page Six. “I think she’s one of the most talented young women out there, but she has a lot of power to live up to the hype. That’s a lot for anyone.”
Martin (who Sweeney now calls one of her best friends) offers advice to the young actress as she navigates Hollywood’s sharks and haters.
“I keep telling her to be true to herself. Be careful. Create a small circle. And be careful who you let into that circle.”
