She plays a young woman with a troubled past in director Paul Feig’s forthcoming psychological thriller, The Housemaid.
But the immediate present and a rather uncertain future appear to be top of the agenda for Sydney Sweeney as she attempts to claw her way back from the commerical failure of her latest film, Christy.
The actress, 28, has found herself at the heart of an escalating storm, sparked by her MAGA political leanings and exacerbated by a relationship with divisive record executive Scooter Braun and subsequent involvement in a controversial American Eagle advertising campaign.
Her forthcoming film venture now faces a potentially negative reception, with critics threatening to boycott The Housemaid when it goes on general release in December.
A new trailer and accompanying promotional posters, shared across Instagram on Thursday, appeared to hint at more problems for Sweeney by prompting a wave of scathing comments from followers, with many claiming they would only watch it to support her co-star, Amanda Seyfried.
Over the weekend, her new film Christy, in which she plays Hall of Fame boxer Christy Martin, tanked at the box office after grossing a meager $1.3million.
Sydney Sweeney is facing another potential career setback after fans threatened to boycott her next film, The Housemaid (pictured attending the 28th SCAD Savannah Film Festival)
She takes the lead as Millie Calloway, a young woman with a troubled past in director Paul Feig’s forthcoming psychological thriller (pictured)
And, adding insult to injury, fellow celebs appear – including Ruby Rose and Aimee Lou Wood – have taken a public stand against her and her political views.
According to reputation expert Eric Schiffer, Sweeney has enlisted clever PR techniques in a bid to cool the mounting backlash.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, he explained that she has so-far bashed away criticism by simply never apologizing – and in doing so, has scaled her relevance.
However, while Sweeney looks ‘cancellation-bulletproof right now,’ Schiffer warns that she should tread carefully.
Schiffer said: ‘She’s evading damage because she never fed the beast: no apology tour, then straight back to work.
‘Hollywood reads heat as currency, and she proved she can take a vicious wallop and survive. Guts with composure sells; audiences prefer confidence over contrition. It would be reckless debating eugenics semantics.
‘Her star persona is a weapon, and America – plus a lot of the world – like and gravitate toward her, and that’s a jean covered bomb-proof reputation suit.’
Last week, Sweeney faced further public scrutiny after she broke her silence on her controversial American Eagle jeans campaign.
A new trailer and accompanying promotional posters, shared across Instagram on Thursday, prompted a wave of scathing comments from followers (pictured)
Sweeney ignited a cultural firestorm earlier this year when American Eagle released a campaign that included wordplay on ‘good jeans’ and ‘good genes’ drawing comparisons to the racist language of eugenicists (the actress is pictured in the campaign)
The actress is currently dating controversial record executive Scooter Braun (pictured together)
The divisive ad, which was accused of promoting white supremacy, played on her ‘good jeans’ and ‘good genes.’
Despite the public outrage, Sweeney had remained relatively silent on the backlash, only breaking her silence in an interview with GQ where she dodged questions about the campaign and refused to defend or condemn it.
Speaking to the publication, she said: ‘I did a jean ad. The reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans.
‘All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.’
‘To the right and much of the middle, she sold denim, not doctrine,’ Schiffer said of Sweeney’s controversial American Eagle ad.
Over the weekend, her new film Christy, in which she plays Hall of Fame boxer Christy Martin, tanked at the box office after grossing a meager $1.3 million (pictured in the film)
Turning his attention to her non-apology, he continued: ‘In GQ she made it crystal clear she didn’t care if some took it wrong, which is Godfather-level crisis comms.
‘The GQ splash only scales her relevance, but many on the left see her dancing on a razor with a rifle scope on her jugular – warning of brand erosion from arrogance, and a star mistaking viral gasoline for career oxygen that ends in box-office catastrophe.’
Over recent months, Sweeney has steadily raised eyebrows after a string of controversial moves.
In June, she attended Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos’s wedding in Italy, and two months later in August, she was revealed as a registered Republican voter.
President Donald Trump even came out and defended her during the American Eagle storm.
More recently, Sweeney has faced online backlash for dating ‘canceled’ music exec Braun, 44, and for simply appearing as the cover star for the latest issue of GQ.
Braun has long been hated by Taylor Swift fans after he purchased the pop icon’s musical masters in a deal reportedly worth more than $300 million.
