Sydney Sweeney issues fierce response to producer who said she’s ‘not pretty’ and ‘can’t act’

Carol Baum also claimed that Sweeney’s recent rom-com Anyone But You was ‘unwatchable’

Sydney Sweeney has responded after Hollywood producer Carol Baum claimed that she’s “not pretty” and “can’t act”.

Baum, 81, is known for her work on the 1988 thriller Dead Ringers, the 1991 comedy Father of the Bride and the original 1992 film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

She made headlines last week when she said at an event in Pleasantville, New York: “There’s an actress who everybody loves now: Sydney Sweeney. 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… romantic comedy where they hate each other.”

She continued: “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?’ Nobody had an answer. But then the question was asked, ‘Well, if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?’

“That’s a very hard question to answer because we all want to get the movie made and who walks away from a green light? Nobody I know. Your job is to get the movie made.”

Sydney Sweeney and ‘Father of the Bride’ producer Carol Baum (Getty)

Now, Sweeney, 26, has responded through a representative in a statement to Variety: “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 has also been defended by Teddy Schwarzman, a co-producer on her new film Immaculate.

“I’ll enlighten Ms. Baum that two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney is not only one of the most talented actresses I’ve worked with,” Schwarzman wrote on X/Twitter, “but also incredibly smart, kind and humble.”

He added: “I’m not sure why someone who claims to still be a producer would make such terribly ugly comments.”

Baum told TMZ she regrets her comments.

Last month, Sweeney revealed that her onscreen success has allowed her to pay off her mother’s mortgage.

“I recently paid off my mom’s mortgage,” Sweeney said. “As a kid, I always dreamt of being able to take care of my parents, so that was a really big thing for me to be able to do.”

“I try to incorporate them into my life as much as possible, whether it’s talking with my cousins every other day or going home,” she added.