Sydney Sweeney says Hollywood woman empowerment 'not happening'

In a 13 November interview with Vanity Fair, rising Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney criticized established women in the film industry for "trying to bash and discredit" younger female talent. She lamented that the oft-cited notion of "women empowering other women" in Hollywood felt insincere, calling it "fake," and claimed that many female insiders were instead undermining up-and-comers behind their backs.

Sweeney's remarks likely reference an incident reported by Vanity Fair in April, where veteran producer Carol Baum criticized Sweeney's looks and acting talent while belittling her self-produced and highly successful romantic comedy Anyone But You, calling it "unwatchable."

Sweeney’s comments echo those of other leading actresses who have spoken about the challenges women face in the industry.

In 2022, Jennifer Lawrence claimed that women were rarely cast as action stars before her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. Though she later clarified her comments after backlash for overlooking Tinseltown's storied history of female action stars, including Linda Hamilton in the Terminator series, Lawrence emphasized how empowering it felt to lead such a major franchise.

Similarly, Anne Hathaway has highlighted gender inequities in Hollywood, once noting in a Vanity Fair profile that, “Young men were encouraged to pursue their desires, and young women were encouraged to be desired.”

Nicole Kidman is another star who has spoken out against alleged gender discrimination in Hollywood. She recently expressed interest in one day working with legendary director Martin Scorsese, though she drew flak by asserting that Scorsese only prioritized male characters in his films.

Kidman's actions back up her words.

A Reddit post in the subreddit r/PopCultureChat noted that she had worked with a whopping 15 female directors since vowing to do so in 2017.

Sweeney, for her part, is aiming to address gender imbalances in Hollywood by taking on a producer’s role, something that Lawrence has done as well. “I love being able to have a seat at the table, have creative say over decisions that would help benefit the project, whether it be the character or budget or time frame," Sweeney told Vanity Fair.

By producing her own projects, Sweeney has the opportunity to join the ranks of women in Hollywood who are building each other up while also creating compelling and entertaining films.