Sharon Stone is defending Sydney Sweeney, telling Variety that “It’s hard to be hot.” Earlier this year, Sweeney faced controversy for appearing in an American Eagle ad campaign with the tagline, “Sydney Sweeney has great genes.” There was an immediate backlash, with critics saying it promoted white supremacy and exploited her figure.
“It’s okay to use what mama gave you. It’s really fine,” Stone said. “It’s hard to be hot, and I think we all know that. It’s really okay to use every bit of hotness you have — right here, right now — and go for whatever that is. Everybody has their own certain kind of hotness, their own certain thing, and you’re supposed to go for that. Because who are you not to be beautiful? You know, who you are isn’t an accident.“
When the American Eagle controversy kicked off, both Sweeney and Stone were in production on the third season of Euphoria.
“Because I was co-godparents with Jane Goodall, I said, ‘When Jane was on the cover of Life Magazine for her work with gorillas, she was in her safari shorts and shirt, sitting with one of the animals that she was working with,” Stone said. “Other scientists said, ‘Well, she only got the cover of Life Magazine because she had good legs.’ And Jane said, ‘Well, if I did, then that helped me get more money for my research.’ Sydney said, ‘Yeah, and I’m sure I made a billion dollars for the jeans company, and I’m good with that. Because, you know what? I’ll get another job.’“
Whatever your thoughts on the controversy, it certainly hasn’t slowed Sweeney down. She will soon be seen in Christy, a sports biopic about professional boxer Christy Martin. It will hit theaters on November 7. Our own Chris Bumbray caught the film at TIFF earlier this year, and while he doesn’t think it’s the Oscar bait others believe it to be, he did say it “proves that whatever you may think of Sydney Sweeney, her legitimate talent as an actress can’t be dismissed.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
She will also star alongside Amanda Seyfried in Paul Feig’s The Housemaid, which will be released in theaters on December 19. There have even been rumblings that she could be a Bond girl in the upcoming 007 movie.
