Fans have come to Sydney Sweeney’s defence after trolls criticised her comments about feeling “ostracised” when she first developed breasts.
The 25-year-old spoke candidly about her childhood during a recent interview with The Sun. She recalled that throughout some of her years in school, she felt her peers would exclude her because of the size of her breasts.
“I had boobs before other girls and I felt ostracised for it,” she said. Sweeney also expressed how throughout her career, she felt like she was being judged because of her looks.
“I have big boobs, I’m blonde, and that’s all I have,” she added, referring to the assumption that people have made about her, following some of the nude scenes she did on Euphoria.
Following the release of her interview, trolls on Twitter have criticised Sweeney, with some accusing her of “complaining” about her looks and claiming that she shouldn’t have been talking about her breasts so publicly.
However, fans quickly shut these critics down and defended the actor, as they acknowledged how women in society have continued to be scrutinised for their physical appearance.
“Anyone mocking this probably wasn’t catcalled at 10/11 and wasn’t told to cover up for wearing the same things other kids were allowed to wear,” one wrote. “When your body becomes sexualized as a child you can start to hate it and blame yourself. It can be honestly awful.”
“Women, from the time they reach consciousness, are shamed for simply existing so idk why it’s so hard for people to understand that a child developing breasts earlier would lead to scrutiny or feelings of insecurity,” another added.
A third wrote: “I feel like every time this girl speaks out about an issue, y’all are quick to just dismiss her as a sex icon who ‘signed up’ for this and…y’all need to pack that internalised misogyny.”
Other people opened up about their own experiences growing up and how they could relate to the White Lotus star, as they said that their peers mocked them because of their breasts.
“I was a D cup in middle school, the attention was Not Good,” one person wrote.
“My breasts started developing at 10, and I hated it,” another added. “I didn’t hate my breasts, I hate what came along with it. Being laughed at for wearing a bra, sexual comments from classmates, teachers, and even my own grandfather. I get how she feels, It’s a horrible experience.”
Elsewhere in her interview with The Sun, Sweeney also recalled the scrutiny her family faced because of her work, as she said that trolls took screenshots of her nude scenes and tagged relatives in them. The actor also pointed out some of the body shaming that her character, Cassie Howard, faced in Euphoria.
“My cousins don’t need that. It’s completely disgusting and unfair,” she said. “You have a character that goes through the scrutiny of being a sexualised person at school and then an audience that does the same thing. I think it’s ridiculous. I’m an artist, I play characters. It makes me want to play characters that piss people off more.”
Sweeney has also previously opened up about how it “bothers” her that most of the attention on her performance surrounds her nude scenes.
Speaking to The Independent’s TV editor Ellie Harrison last year, Sweeney said: “I’m very proud of my work in Euphoria. I thought it was a great performance. But no one talks about it because I got naked. I do The White Lotus and all of a sudden critics are paying attention.”
“They’re going, ‘Oh my God, what’s she doing next?’ I was like, ‘Did you not see that in Euphoria? Did you not see that in The Handmaid’s Tale?” she added.
