Sydney Sweeney says her trolls are engaging in particularly “disgusting” behavior.
In her latest interview with British GQ, the Euphoria star shared that members of her family are often tagged in nude screenshots of her character, Cassie. “My cousins don’t need that. It’s completely disgusting and unfair,” she said, pointing out that Cassie faced similar treatment when an explicit video of her was shared by classmates in season one. “You have a character that goes through the scrutiny of being a sexualized person at school and then an audience that does the same thing.”
Despite her frustration, Sweeney won’t “hide herself away” to avoid online critics and trolls. “I think it’s ridiculous. I’m an artist, I play characters,” she said. “It makes me want to play characters that piss people off more.”
Still, Sydney Sweeney seems to be pissing people off more often than she expected. In the same interview, she addressed her mother’s controversial birthday party, which sparked backlash after photos of MAGA-inspired “Make Sixty Great Again” hats and a guest wearing a Blue Lives Matter T-shirt went viral. At the time, Sweeney dismissed the responses in a tweet, writing, “You guys this is wild. An innocent celebration for my [mom’s] milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone and Happy Birthday Mom!”
“Honestly, I feel like nothing I say can help the conversation. It’s been turning into a wildfire and nothing I can say will take it back to the correct track,” she told GQ, adding, “I’ll see people say, ‘She needs to get media training.’ Why, do you want to see a robot? I don’t think there’s any winning.”