The Emmy-nominated “Euphoria” and “White Lotus” star shut down assumptions that a “surprise hoedown”-themed birthday party for her mother was pro-Trump with MAGA references. Sweeney, whose attorney mother Lisa Sweeney (née Mudd) turned 60 this past weekend, shared photos on social media of the birthday bash in Idaho. “No better way to celebrate my momma than a surprise hoedown,” Sweeney captioned. The select pictures showed Sweeney riding a mechanical bull with her mom, with one relative wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” shirt in the background. Sweeney’s brother Trent Sweeney uploaded a picture capturing guests in custom parody hats reading “Make Sixty Great Again.” “You guys, this is wild,” Sweeney tweeted after facing backlash. “An innocent celebration for my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone and Happy Birthday Mom!”
A+E networks public relations representative Shaunna Murphy commented on the post, writing, “Your fans being hurt that you posted photos of you with your dad in a blue lives matter shirt at a maga themed birthday party isn’t unreasonable, girlie. Your family looks pretty racist and maybe you should take a second to think about how you’re going to address that.” Bestselling author Frederick Joseph added, “Assumptions? Don’t gaslight your fans (many are likely young progressive people based on the content of the show that gave you fame). Your family is obviously far-right based on the blue lives matter shirts and MAGA babies.” Sweeney is currently nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for Season 2 of “Euphoria,” as well as in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for “The White Lotus.” “My mom only knew about ‘Euphoria,’” Sweeney recently told IndieWire about her surprise at the back-to-back nominations. “And then I took another call, and they were like ‘Double nominee.’ I was like ‘Double nominee, what do you mean?’ And I looked it up. I was like, ‘Oh my god. This is crazy.’ I’m still in the ‘Is this happening? Is this real?’ phase.” The star of upcoming Marvel movie “Madame Web” and producer of “The Registration” adaptation previously addressed the pitfalls of the film and TV industry as a whole. “It’s built to try to make you backstab people,” Sweeney opened up. “It’s insane. My agent is my best teammate, and I’ll have her forever. [But] I see how people are like, ‘We support each other’ — and I’m like, ‘No. You fucking don’t.’” Sweeney shared with The Hollywood Reporter, “I can feel my bubble of who I can talk to and share intimate things with and have relationships shrinking, shrinking, shrinking. You’ll write about this and people won’t believe what I say. And that’s really, really hard.”
— Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) August 27, 2022
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