Hollywood Producer Carol Baum Lays Into Sydney Sweeney, Says She’s “Not Pretty” And “Can’t Act”

Sydney Sweeney is quickly becoming Hollywood’s “it” girl. Having recently starred in movies like Anyone But You and Immaculate, she is not only making her name as an actress, but also as a producer. Despite Sweeney’s undeniable fame, one of the industry’s top female producers can’t seem to get behind the craze.

Carol Baum, who executive produced films like Father of the Bride and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reportedly said Sweeney was “not pretty” and “can’t act” while speaking in front of an audience following a screening of her 1988 film Dead Ringers, according to The Daily Mail.

“There’s an actress who everybody loves now — Sydney Sweeney. I don’t get Sydney Sweeney,” Baum reportedly said.

The producer, who has worked with the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Dolly Parton, went on to slam Sweeney’s rom-com Anyone But You, which also stars Glen Powell.

“I was watching on the plane Sydney Sweeney’s movie because I wanted to watch it. I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her,” she recalled. “I watched this unwatchable movie — sorry to people who love this movie — [this] romantic comedy where they hate each other.”

Baum said she brought Sweeney up to her class at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts — and even they didn’t understand the hype.

“I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?'” Baum said. “Nobody had an answer, but then the question was asked, ‘Well if you could get your movie made because she was in it, would you do it?'”

Baum then admitted that she didn’t know if she would turn down the opportunity to work with the actress. “That’s a very hard question to answer because we all want to get the movie made, and who walks away from a green light? Nobody I know. Your job is to get the movie made,” she said.

Sweeney’s rep shared a statement with DECIDER in response to Baum’s remarks.

“How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman,” they wrote in the statement. “If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful. To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms Baum’s character.”

Sweeney, for her part, has never, ever been happier. After rising to fame for her roles in The White Lotus and Euphoria, the Emmy-nominated actress has been busier than ever in recent months with the release of Madame Web, Immaculate and Anyone But You — which raked in $200 million at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated rom-com since Bridget Jones’s Baby came out in 2016, per Variety. She even made her Saturday Night Live hosting debut earlier this year.