A deeply weird lawsuit recently included some nasty shaming of Sydney Sweeney for her on-screen roles.
However, over the weekend, the Euphoria actress found herself on the receiving end of some much less weird shaming.
Her mom celebrated her 60th birthday. That was fine.
What was not fine were the hateful symbols on display at the party. Fans are crying foul, but Sydney wants them to stop “making assumptions.”
Sydney Sweeney’s mother celebrated her 60th birthday in style. Questionable style, but style nonetheless.
The family took photos with cowboy hats. There was a general country motif going on, even with the live music.
But not everyone’s outfit was on-theme, so to speak.
We probably don’t have to zoom in for you to notice the shirt on display in this photo (and in others).
That man, apparently standing with Sydney’s mother and grandmother, is wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” shirt.
The deeply fashy pro-police symbol has become so synonymous with white supremacy that officers have been using it to replace Confederate flag tattoos.
To be clear, we do not know who this man is.
But, as we will address shortly, the MAGA-inspired hats were apparently part of the party.
We never thought that we’d say this in any context, but we prefer the goofy cowboy hats.
“You guys this is wild,” Sydney protested on Twitter over the weekend.
“An innocent celebration for my moms milestone 60th birthday,” she claimed, “has turned into an absurd political statement.”
“Which was not the intention,” Sydney insisted.
“Please stop making assumptions,” Sydney implored her fans and critics. Note that she’s not directly denying anything.
“Much love to everyone,” she expressed.
“And,” Sydney’s tweet concluded, “Happy Birthday Mom!”
If Sydney is lamenting that people are “assuming” that this man is a relative, that is fair.
As we said, he is unidentified.
But the views announced by his bastardized American flag shirt are not really up for debate. It’s a symbol of white supremacy, and even police departments have banned it.
So even if this guy is just a venue owner or a party crasher who had the right hat … that’s not okay.
First of all, because he was clearly welcome in this photo.
Second of all, because Sydney shared the pic. She could have so easily shared almost any other photo.
That brings us to the third item, which is photos that her brother shared.
Trent Sweeney shared photos of family members wearing MAGA-inspired “Make 60 Great Again” hats.
That’s not just a joke in poor taste, either. Trent has shared photos of the original hat before, from other occasions.
One could easily ask why some people are defending her.
Sydney isn’t disavowing her family or even their views. She’s being pretty deliberately vague.
That said, we’ve scrolled through enough photos of her that it’s pretty clear why people are vocally riding to her rescue in the comments.
But Sydney being a talented actress — and, you know, a total knockout — does not free her from scrutiny.
Even if the shirt and the hats were totally insincere, there are very few contexts where hate symbols are appropriate.
Birthday parties are not among them. (Neither is Halloween, Harry Hamlin — we haven’t forgotten)
Obviously, there are people who believe that people should be allowed to be as reprehensible as they like without any consequences or social clapback.
Interestingly, it’s always a desire for one-sided “free speech.”
As in, one person can declare just how vile they are with hate symbols, but cry foul the moment that they are called out.
No one can control who their relatives are. And not everyone is willing or able to go no-contact with toxic family members. We get that.
What we do not understand is advertising symbols of malice and white supremacy at a birthday party … and then getting mad when people talk about it.
These aren’t old pics that people maliciously unearthed. They’re from this month.
So yes, of course Sydney received a thorough callout.
Meanwhile, some are beginning to despair about the cast of Euphoria.
There has simply been a string of bad news in recent weeks. Viewers are not loving it.
Hunter Schafer expressed (or, rather, endorsed) some pretty vile transmed views — essentially some more-transgender-than-thou intracommunity toxicity among trans people.
Now, all jokes at her expense aside, Sydney has left some viewers feeling pretty disappointed.
She could have condemned racist symbols. She could have hidden the photos. Instead, she just wants people to turn a blind eye, as she apparently does. Is that reasonable?
