One of the weirdest stories of the week is about producer Carol Baum bashing Sydney Sweeney for no real reason. Baum produced Father of the Bride, Snow Falling On Cedars, The Good Girl and a dozen other films. This week, Baum was chatting with a NYT moderator for some kind of discussion about Hollywood, and Baum recounted watching Anyone But You, the successful romantic-comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell. Sydney produced ABY too. Baum apparently said, “Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?” RUDE! Well, Baum’s comments were publicized by the Daily Mail and other outlets, and there was an immediate reaction from Sweeney’s rep. Baum apparently already tried to backtrack too:
Sydney Sweeney’s camp hasn’t wasted time clapping back at the attack on her looks and acting chops by a Hollywood producer … even though the woman herself is walking it back. A rep for the “Euphoria” actress called out Carol Baum for her recent remarks that classified SS as “not pretty” and not a good actress, saying, “How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman.”
The rep adds, “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.”
Sydney’s former colleagues have also come out to speak up on her behalf — including producer Teddy Schwarzman, who worked with Sydney on “Immaculate.” He responded to this slam as well, saying Sydney is not only talented, but incredibly humble and kind … and a badass scream queen too.
As for Carol herself, she’s already expressing regret over the whole thing — telling TMZ she wishes she never would’ve made her original comments, and that crapping on an actor like that in public usually isn’t her style. Carol — who has movie credits under her belt such as “Father of the Bride” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — goes on to say she’s been getting a ton of hate mail over all this.
Hate mail? The Mail ran Baum’s comments as an exclusive on Tuesday, and the story was only widely picked up on Wednesday. I guess Baum could mean email or hate-DMs rather than “mail,” but who knows. It doesn’t sound like Carol Baum is current on modes of communication. Anyway, I think Sydney’s rep struck the right tone and this is honestly a very easy layup for Team Sweeney. Sydney gets tons of sympathy and she gets further recognition as a successful producer. It also helps that in Sydney’s time in Hollywood, she’s made friends and she hasn’t walked all over people on her way to the upper-middle of Hollywood.
As a producer of #Immaculate, I’ll enlighten Ms. Baum that two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney is not only one of the most talented actresses I’ve worked with, but also incredibly smart, kind and humble. I’m not sure why someone who claims to still be a producer would make such…
— Teddy Schwarzman (@tschwarzman) April 17, 2024
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Backgrid.