Sydney Sweeney detailed a recent encounter with paparazzi in which photographers showed up at her home and attempted to negotiate with her family for bikini photos of the actress in exchange for leaving the property.
In a new profile with Glamour as part of its Women of the Year series, the Anyone but You star said the constant discourse around her body had sometimes led to extreme situations with paparazzi, including one where they hounded her family at her Florida home.
“They said, ‘If you tell her to just come outside in a bikini, I’ll take pictures and then I’ll leave you alone,’” she recalled. While Sweeney didn’t provide further information on when the incident took place, it’s possible that she could be referring to a couple articles in Page Six dating back to early June of this year. When the photos and news hit social media, she said that users speculated she had called the paparazzi herself.
“Why would I call the paparazzi to take pictures of me at my own house when my baby cousins and family are there and I’m in my backyard? Why would I ever want that? I have pictures of these guys in kayaks hiding in bushes in the ocean. They got there at 8 a.m. and wouldn’t leave until 4 p.m. I should be able to be in my home and feel comfortable and safe,” she said.
Though the Fifty-Fifty Films founder said the presence of photographers doesn’t bother her as much, the ease with which people can find her location or homes frightens her.
“When those photos go out, then my actual safety is at risk,” the Emmy nominee said. “Everyone knows where I am. Now there’s boats that go by, and I literally hear them say, ‘This is Sydney Sweeney’s house.’ It becomes a star tour in my front yard.”
Sweeney, who rose to fame with HBO’s critically acclaimed Euphoria and The White Lotus, will soon appear in the Ron Howard survival thriller Eden that debuted early September at TIFF, alongside Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl.
The Everything Sucks star’s comments come amid a larger cultural conversation about female celebrities, toxic fan culture, tabloid press and parasocial relationships, ones that have been echoed by the likes of Chappell Roan and others.
