Sydney Sweeney has called out Hollywood’s “women empowering other women” attitude, saying it’s all a facade.
The 27-year-old emerged as one of the industry’s most in-demand young actors after her Emmy-nominated roles as Cassie Howard in HBO’s Euphoria and Olivia Mossbacher in the first season of the anthology series, The White Lotus.
The Anyone But You star appeared in Vanity Fair’s 2025 Hollywood Issue alongside 11 other stars, including Zendaya, and Nicole Kidman.
During her interview with the publication, Sweeney opened up about the power dynamic among women in the film industry.
“It’s very disheartening to see women tear other women down,” she said. “Especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard – hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have – and then trying to bash and discredit any work that they’ve done.”
“This entire industry, all people say is ‘Women empowering other women.’ None of it’s happening,” she continued. “All of it is fake and a front for all the other s**t that they say behind everyone’s back.”
The Madame Web star went on to share her thoughts on why some women might bring each other down in private, saying it was a “generational problem to believe only one woman can be at the top”.
“There’s one woman who can get the man. There’s one woman who can be, I don’t know, anything. So then all the others feel like they have to fight each other or take that one woman down instead of being like, Let’s all lift each other up,” she added.
She also added that she’s “still trying to figure it out” herself, explaining, “I’m just trying my best over here. Why am I getting attacked?”
Sweeney’s statement about women’s empowerment comes months after she was fiercely criticized by producer Carol Baum.
Baum, who produced Dead Ringers, Father of the Bride, and the original 1992 film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said at an event that she didn’t “get” Sweeney, stating that she was “not pretty” and “can’t act”.
The Euphoria star’s rep subsequently responded to the quotes in a statement: “How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman.
“If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful. To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms Baum’s character,” she added.
Baum later said she regretted her remarks, telling TMZ that she shouldn’t have made those comments.