By and large, actress Sydney Sweeney is currently living the Hollywood dream, riding a wave of success from star-turning roles in HBO’s Euphoria and The White Lotus, among many other projects in her ever-busy career. The resort-set anthology earned Emmy Award nominations for Sweeney and many of her co-stars, and she’s already lined up a role in Sony’s Madame Web and more in the future. But not everything is so hunky-dory, as she’s currently being sued over an allegedly botched business deal, and has called out the plaintiff company for trying to shame her in court paperwork.
Why Sydney Sweeney Is Being Sued
The swimsuit company LA Collective has claimed that Sydney Sweeney previously agreed to partner with them on a line of bikinis, but then said the Handmaid’s Tale vet exited out of the deal at the last minute. According to the company, the actress’ involvement would have led to around $3 million in estimated sales.
For her part, Sydney Sweeney reportedly decided to back out of the agreement with LA Collective after learning about customers’ complaints from over the years. To her point, reviews across various websites such as Trustpilot indicate that consumers aren’t exactly overwhelmed with glee about the swimsuit company. But that didn’t stop LA Collective from calling out Sweeney’s career choices in legal paperwork.
What LA Collective’s Latest Court Motion Said About Sydney Sweeney
In a recent court motion, the swimwear business did not stick to a completely business-minded approach, and instead focused on negative opinions about Sweeney as a person and her career, reports Radar. According to LA Collective’s paperwork:
The internet is also replete with videos and pictures of Sweeney naked and engaging in activity that appeals to the prurient interest. Since she is obviously not ready for prime time and may never be, Sweeney needed to supplement her income by launching a swimwear line that she could promote by wearing the products on her television show.
In response to prior follow-up claims from Sydney Sweeney, who reportedly said working with the company would damage her reputation, LA Collective once again brought up the actress’ nude scenes, saying:
It is hard to understand how she would suffer any more reputation damage than what she has already incurred as a result of her pornographic videos and salacious internet depictions, which were entirely self-inflicted wounds.
It’s unclear if the company believes that HBO’s Euphoria itself amounts to pornographic videos, or if its execs/legal team are mixing Sweeney up with co-star Chloe Cherry, who actually has legitimately starred in a variety of adult films. (And her only issue with that side of her career is the ugly reactions it sparks from others.) In any case, Sweeney has spoken about her main regret when it comes to nude scenes isn’t the nudity itself, but the fact that viewers sometimes can’t separate the character from the person.
How Sydney Sweeney’s Legal Team Responded
Understandably, LA Collective’s comments didn’t win any compliments from the Euphoria star’s lawyer, Andrew Brettler, whose own court filing fired back, calling the company’s comments “disgusting.” Here’s how he put it:
[LA Collective’s] attempt to reduce Sweeney to nothing more than a harlot (with repeated references to ‘nudity,’ ‘sex,’ ‘pornographic videos,’ and the ‘prurient interest’) is particularly disgusting and offensive to women, but perhaps entirely consistent with LA Collective’s (and its lawyer’s) abhorrent reputation in the industry. It is no wonder that Sweeney refused to associate or do business with LA Collective and its owners.
Sydney Sweeney is looking to get the judge in this case to dismiss the claims listed in LA Collective’s suit, though it’s unclear when things will move forward from here. The legal wranglings certainly haven’t stopped Sweeney from taking part in an extensive press campaign ahead of this year’s Emmy Awards, where she’s nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.
For anyone who finds it strange that LA Collective spoke negatively of Sydney Sweeney showing off her body while in the midst of suing her over a bikini line, here’s how Andrew Brettler followed the above comments:
It is ironic that [LA Collective’s] Complaint seeks to force Ms. Sweeney to serve as the face of its swimwear line while simultaneously disparaging her reputation by way of including sexist and misogynistic remarks in a public filing.
While it’s unclear what will happen with this lawsuit, fans can see how Sydney Sweeney fares at the Emmys when the telecast airs on NBC on Monday, September 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET. And be sure to check out both of her biggest roles of 2021 with The White Lotus and Euphoria both streaming with an HBO Max subscription.