Sydney Sweeney Slams Producer Who Said She's "Not Pretty" and "Can't Act"

What a strange, strange thing to say.

Sydney Sweeney and Carol Baum
(Image credit: Getty Images)

I guess it's women putting other women down week over in celebrity world.

Just days after Courtney Love gave her—ahem—unfiltered thoughts on Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and more, Sydney Sweeney is the latest A-lister to find herself in the firing line.

After Carol Baum, a producer best known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said of the Euphoria star that she's "not pretty" and she "can't act," Sweeney hit back with a statement I personally find very satisfying.

"How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman," a spokesperson for the actress told E! News. "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."

The rep continued, "To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms. Baum's character."

Sweeney has acted as a producer on Anyone But You (the movie Baum criticized her for) and Immaculate.

A post shared by Sydney Sweeney

A photo posted by sydney_sweeney on

Baum made the comments in question during a conversation on stage with The New York Times' Janet Maslin.

"There's an actress who everybody loves now—Sydney Sweeney," she said (via the Daily Mail).

"I don't get Sydney Sweeney. I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney's movie [Anyone But You] because I wanted to watch it.

"I wanted to know who she is and why everybody's talking about her.

"I watched this unwatchable movie—sorry to people who love this movie—[this] romantic comedy where they hate each other."

Pause here to say it's fine to dislike a movie and express your dislike for a movie, but Baum—who is an adjunct professor at USC's School of Cinematic Arts—didn't stop there.

"I said to my class, "Explain this girl to me. She's not pretty, she can't act. Why is she so hot?'" she continued.

Maslin addressed the incident on Twitter, writing, "It IS unwatchable. Carol Baum said this after we screened 'Dead Ringers' at the Jacob Burns Film Center and she mentioned having seen 'Anyone But You' on a plane. But 'Dead Ringers,' b/o a book Baum optioned 10 years before David Cronenberg adapted it, gets better and better."

The critic added in the comments, "We brought up Anyone But You because it’s been the rare smash hit rom-com at a time when they aren’t working. Not because we wanted to take cheap shots at anyone."

Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.