Sydney Sweeney is facing backlash on social media after sharing photos from a recent family function.
The actress threw a “surprise hoedown” in Idaho on Saturday to celebrate her mother’s 60th birthday; party-goers were treated to a slew of hoedown-themed activities, including line dancing, a mechanical bull, jean jacket embroidery, hatchet throwing, archery, and a live band.
Sweeney posted several photos of the celebration on Instagram alongside a sweet caption, writing, “no better way to celebrate my momma than a surprise hoedown.” Followers quickly took notice of the last photo in the post, which shows the White Lotus actress and her family with her mother’s birthday cake, one of Sweeney’s relatives wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” T-shirt.
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A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney)
Further criticism arose when her brother Trent Sweeney shared more photos, which showed party goers proudly wearing red hats printed with “Make Sixty Great Again,” a parody of pro-Trump MAGA hats.
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A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney)
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Sweeney Says Celebration was Turned Into “Absurd Political Statement”
HBO
Following the backlash, the Euphoria star took to Twitter to address the criticism, saying the celebration was “innocent.”
“You guys this is wild. An innocent celebration for my moms milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention,” Sweeney wrote on Sunday. “Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone and Happy Birthday Mom!”
While some fans came to Sweeney’s support, claiming that it’s not always easy to cut ties with family members over political views, some fans were not so quick to forgive.
“Why are people acting like there’s no middle ground between cutting off your right wing family members and happily posing with them while they’re wearing a shirt with a violent racist symbol on it?” one Twitter user asked.
Others criticized Sweeney’s response to the situation itself, with another user writing, “If Sydney Sweeney disagreed with her parents’ politics she’d say that. Notice that she said it was ‘innocent’ instead. Meanwhile the innocence is bigotry.”
Sweeney has not commented further on the situation.
