Over the weekend, Sydney Sweeney saw the release of a Christy A sports drama about real-life professional boxer Christy Martin. She dominated the sport for females during the 1990s. All while enduring abuse at the hands of her coach-turned-husband. This ultimately resulted in her 2010 attempted murder. It’s the kind of film that seemed destined to put Sweeney’s career on a brand new trajectory. Her performance has earned raves from critics. Even generating Oscar buzz from those who found the film to not match Sweeney’s transformative turn.

Things began to take a turn ahead of Christy’s release, and it all came to a head when the movie opened to a mere $1.3 million after opening in over 2,000 theaters. The film’s performance came in the wake of what seems to be a PR nightmare for Sweeney and following two other films from the actress that underperformed at the box office. For an actress who appeared destined for great things following a few solid career moves, it seems like her team hasn’t really been working in her best interest as of late.

SYDNEY SWEENEY’S RISE IN HOLLYWOOD

Sweeney seemed to be developing a stellar career for herself all before the age of 30. After getting early recognition with roles in The Handmaid’s Tale and Sharp Objects, her status really exploded following acclaim for her role as Cassandra “Cassie” Howard on Euphoria. As well as for portraying Olivia Mossbacher on Season 1 of the anthology series, The White Lotus. Both projects earned her Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Soon her focus began to shift to the big screen.

In 2023, the romantic comedy Anyone but You became a huge hit, grossing $220.3 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. This during a time when rom-coms had become less of a sure thing at the box office. Sony’s Madame Web may have been a misfire for the actress, but learning that she leveraged appearing in that film to ensure a producing credit on Anyone but You proved that she’s also business savvy in an industry where women aren’t largely afforded that opportunity. The problem for Sweeney is that she seems to be dealing with two major issues. One is determining her target audience. As well as dealing with how she’s perceived in the public eye. The latter of which is proving to be the biggest issue for the actress currently.

THE MOST RECENT PR ISSUE FOR SWEENEY

The most recent PR issue for Sweeney comes from an ad campaign she did for American Eagle. In the ad, the actress is described as having “good jeans.” A play on words since she is selling jeans for the brand. But social media and the greater media at large looked at it as her saying her “genes” were better because of her background as a Caucasian woman. With some even saying it promoted fascist propaganda. The uproar got the attention of President Donald Trump. This caused social media users to soon began assuming her political affiliations. Due to the ad and because she hasn’t publicly expressed what side she falls on. American Eagle share prices increased and Vice President JD Vance said criticism of the ad just showed that Democrats were out of touch with younger men. Meanwhile, Sweeney remained silent through it all, until recently.

SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE AD

During an interview with GQ to promote Christy, Sweeney was asked about the controversy. When she was asked specifically if she wanted to say something about the ad itself, particularly about “genetic superiority,” the actress didn’t give the answer most hoped for. She simply responded, “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”

It seems like the masses wanted her to say more and take a bigger stance against why people may have been offended by the campaign. Maybe they wanted her to simply say, “I’m not a racist and I didn’t agree with the creative direction of the ad. But it is what it is, and the only thing I can do now is make moves to prove that I’m not a proponent for genetic superiority.” There is a perceived insensitivity to what appears to be nonchalance on Sweeney’s part. Which is why she has been going through it in the media. Particularly on social media, where users are more vocal and far more vicious in terms of calling out Sweeney for not taking a stand.

Perhaps even more upsetting was when she was asked about the reaction to the American Eagle ad as a whole. She ignored what the bigger issues about the campaign were by saying, “I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.” It was clear the question alluded to the larger controversy. For Sweeney to fall back on her love of jeans just seems a bit tone deaf when she’s clearly aware that the ad sparked a much larger conversation.

By the time she claimed that she was working so much on Season 3 of Euphoria and wasn’t fully aware of the full extent of the conversation sparked by it, and the support it received from our President and Vice President, that also didn’t ring true for most. Especially since her PR team likely kept her frequently in the loop even as her workload increased.

PREVIOUS RUMORS USED FOR PROMOTION

Sweeney being unaware of such things doesn’t quite line up with how she has handled promotion of some of her career. Even leading up to her most recent missteps. The success of Anyone but You was sparked by the holiday push during the year it was released. But it didn’t hurt that Sweeney and her co-star Glen Powell played into the rumors that they were dating while filming the movie. Which also bled into the marketing of the film.

During that period, Sweeney was engaged to Jonathan Davino, and Powell was involved with model Gigi Paris. It was all later revealed to be a marketing strategy for the movie. But something about it read a little tawdry just to sell a romantic comedy. Insinuating infidelity didn’t feel all that cute. Especially when Paris came out later, suggesting that she wasn’t completely on board with the marketing push. Davino seemed more game to deal with it, but their engagement was called off this year.

Sweeney is now romantically linked to Scooter Braun. The man who discovered and managed Justin Bieber, among others, which has become its own form of publicity. The pair have been spotted out fairly frequently lately. and have been captured in images that feel more staged to be caught rather than spontaneous photos of the new couple. That’s not to say that the relationship isn’t real; it’s just that it seems like another opportunity to garner the actress more attention. Even if that attention isn’t quite delivering like her team would like.

A DEMOGRAPHIC ISSUE

Another conundrum for Sweeney is her target audience. Let’s get this out of the way right now: Sweeney is a solid actress that has proven it time and time again during some of Euphoria’s best moments. During the closing minutes of the horror film Immaculate and most recently during Christy. A performance that strips Sweeney of her natural beauty and allows her to escape into the role of Christy Martin with honesty and grit. The problem for the actress is that the media has defined her by her beauty and her body. No matter how good her work is, and that presents a demo problem.

The target demo who is into Sweeney more for superficial reasons likely has no interest in seeing the survival thriller Eden ($2.5 million gross), the crime thriller Americana ($500,000 on a reported $9 million budget), or Christy, which failed to move the needle at the box office. It should be noted that none of these movies were expected to be HUGE box office hits. But younger audiences didn’t show up for them. If Sweeney was the selling point for them, they likely didn’t want to see her in smaller, prestige indie fare. This audience was likely more interested in her selling her used bathwater earlier this year. Something that did go viral, but perhaps for the wrong reasons.

The older audience that could be interested in these films may not be totally aware of who she is. The demo that would respond to any of those movies doesn’t seem like frequent viewers of Euphoria and may not have given Anyone but You a shot. So where does Sweeney’s audience sweet spot actually fall?

THINGS SYDNEY SWEENEY IS DOING RIGHT

There are some things that Sweeney is doing right. Following Christy’s underwhelming opening, the actress took to her Instagram to respond to the performance by saying, “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact, and Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.” During another portion of her post, the actress said, “The film stands for survival, courage, and hope. Through our campaigns, we’ve helped raise awareness for so many affected by domestic violence. We all signed on to this film with the belief that Christy’s story could save lives.”

This was the right move to make. One similar to the one Dwayne Johnson made following The Smashing Machine’s underperformance at the box office. Sometimes leaning into the miss is the way to go. It certainly helps to speak to a project’s impact on yourself as a person and those who have seen it and may be helped by it. This feels like a move that is more personal, but another move by her team may be undercutting her intentions.

SKETCHY PR EMAIL

On social media sites, some journalists have been circulating an email. One reportedly from her PR team, that is asking them to put a positive spin on Christy’s box office performance. The e-mail circulating, which was originally posted by Eric Italiano, a senior culture writer at BroBible. It says in part, “Would you please mind updating the headline for us to say that despite low box office, the audience has spoken. We are 99% positive on the Popcornmeter! Box office aside, this one’s a win in all the ways that matter. We’re so proud to back independent cinema and share a story that genuinely deserves to be seen!” This feels like the wrong move for her PR team. Seems to indicate that she may need to overhaul it because they’re not serving her the way that they should.

LOOKING AHEAD

The year will likely end well for Sweeney. The Housemaid releasing on Dec. 19, alongside Amanda Seyfried. It’s a psychological thriller based on a popular 2022 novel by Freida McFadden. This should speak to the target audience who loved the novel. A performer’s bad press can turn around with one box office hit. Given the fact that Sweeney had one during the holiday season of 2023 with Anyone but You, The Housemaid could prove to be another one. She also has several projects lined up. So she’s not starved for work. But Sweeney is young enough to change how she’s sold to the masses and turn some of these circumstances around. She’s a talented actress and her future still seems bright. But more thought needs to go into how she’s perceived because at the moment she’s walking a fine line as she navigates through a truly difficult industry.