Sydney Sweeney knows the swirling rumours about her, and The White Lotus star admitted that it wears her down at times.
“Sometimes I feel beat up by it,” Sweeney, 25, told Variety in a cover story interview that was published on Wednesday. “It’s hard to sit back and watch, and not be able to stand up for yourself.”
Sweeney, who is most known for playing the flirtatious drama-starter Cassie Howard in Max’s hit drama series Euphoria, has been the centre of gossip in recent months.
From hearsay about her family’s political opinions to claims that she had an affair with her Anyone But You co-star, Glen Powell, the internet has buzzed about her.
Sweeney faced criticism on social media last year after she threw a birthday party for her mother, and guests at the party were seen sporting “Blue Lives Matter” clothing and MAGA-style merch.
Sweeney told British GQ in November 2022 that the backlash spread like a “wildfire” after Twitter users began condemning her for the gathering.
Speaking with Variety, the Everything Sucks actor insisted that the incident was surrounded by “misinterpretations”.
“There were so many misinterpretations. The people in the pictures weren’t even my family. The people who brought the things that people were upset about were actually my mom’s friends from L.A. who have kids that are walking outside in the Pride parade, and they thought it would be funny to wear because they were coming to Idaho,” she told Variety.
Sweeney added: “People are so fast to build someone up, and then they love tearing them down. And it’s so fascinating to see. Three years ago, I was going to college just like everybody else. And all of a sudden, I’m not a human anymore.”
On the topic of the Powell rumour, Sweeney, who is engaged to restaurateur Jonathan Davino, shut things down, telling the outlet that she and Powell have laughed off the drama.
“We talk all the time, like, ‘That’s really funny,’” she said of how the two reacted to the many headlines about their purported romance.
The speculation about the co-stars first kicked off in April after the pair, who were both in relationships with other people at the time, made headlines for their sizzling chemistry at CinemaCon while promoting their upcoming film, Anyone But You.
The allegations heated up even more after Powell’s then-girlfriend, Gigi Paris, unfollowed him and Sweeney on Instagram that month before dropping a cryptic message online, “Know your worth & onto the next.”
“That’s what people want!,” Sweeney said of fans eating up the rumours of her and Powell. “Glen and I don’t really care. We have so much fun together, and we respect each other so much; he’s such a hard worker, and I’m a hard worker.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Sweeney got candid about how her own words may have ignited some of the gossip, noting that it can be difficult to fully convey her opinions in brief interviews.
“When we have a two-hour conversation and there’s six quotes in it, it’s so hard to have the context behind what we’re speaking about, and how we’re saying it to each other,” she explained to Variety.
Anyone But You opens in cinemas on 15 December.