Sydney Sweeney Slams Bathwater Backlash

Sydney Sweeney is laying it all out that she doesn't owe anyone an apology for her Dr. Squatch collaboration, even if it includes bathwater. The Euphoria actress was recently hit with a flood of online backlash when she released a series of limited-edition, one-of-a-kind bar soaps literally made with her own bathwater, and she isn't taking the haters lightly. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, published on August 20, Sweeney addressed the controversy directly and called out what she describes as an apparent double standard.

"It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting," she said. "They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi's bathwater." Her mention of Elordi is no coincidence. One such merchandise, "Bathwater Candles," went viral after a poster for his film Saltburn featuring a scene of Barry Keoghan's character drinking bathwater from Elordi's character became a hype of the fan community. Comparing the worship of Elordi's bathwater with the dragging of Sweeney over Dr. Squatch, Sweeney said, revealed a double standard she couldn't ignore based on gender. Though she received serious flak online, Sweeney says she's standing by her choices and believes in the campaign.

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"I think it's important to have a finger on the pulse of what people are saying," she continued. "Because everything is a conversation with the audience." Instead of shying away from criticism, she engages with it, demonstrating a self-awareness that resonates with her fans. The Dr. Squatch collaboration, which featured soap bars infused with Sweeney's bathwater, was attention-getting, but it also illustrates how marketing can be taken to the extreme when it comes to celebrity tie-ins. The actress has flipped the conversation, transforming what some saw as a quirky stunt into a meditation on the way the public perceives women, and, moreover, on the double standard of social media.

Sweeney's position is just part of a broader conversation about how women and men are treated differently in pop culture and advertising campaigns. By highlighting that there is a different reaction to stunts like this when performed by her male counterparts, she is forcing people to question their biases and think about why specific actions are perceived as acceptable for men and not for women. To Sydney Sweeney, the bathwater spectacle is about much more than soap, and it's also about starting a conversation, and she's not sorry about it.