Love her or hate her, Sydney Sweeney took Hollywood by storm in 2025.
Sweeney’s year began with heartbreak as Us Weekly confirmed that she and fiancé Jonathan Davino ended their engagement. After calling it quits for good with Davino, Sweeney entered her single era and zeroed-in on her career.
The actress had multiple movies premiere throughout the following months, including Echo Valley, Eden, Americana, Christy and The Housemaid. Sweeney also tapped back into her iconic Euphoria character, Cassie, as she and the cast returned to film the series’ highly anticipated third and final season.
While Sweeney had a lot of career highs in 2025, there were also a few lows. The actress faced some backlash for controversial brand deals — like her bath-water themed soap and having great jeans — and some of her projects struggled to perform at the box office.
Keep scrolling for a look back on Sweeney’s highs and lows this past year:
March
Us confirmed that Sydney Sweeney and Jonathan Davino called off their engagement.
“Sydney and Jonathan have been having major issues but are not fully split,” an insider initially told Us exclusively in March. “Things are not great right now, but they aren’t throwing in the towel yet. They are working on their relationship but have called off the wedding for now.”
After news broke that her engagement was off, Sweeney reunited with her Anyone But You costar Glen Powell and the pair were spotted out to dinner in Dallas. At the time, an insider told Us that Sweeney and Powell were “just friends” as the actress is “close” to the Chad Powers star and his family.
Later that month, Us reported that Sweeney and Davino had “officially split” and she was “telling friends she is single.”
May
After stepping out solo for the Met Gala, Sydney Sweeney made headlines for her partnership with soap company Dr. Squatch. She dropped her limited edition collaboration, called Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss, as a follow-up to her ad for the company last year.
“You kept asking about my bathwater after the @drsquatch ad … so we kept it,” Sweeney captioned a pic of the soap collab via Instagram. “Introducing Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss! A very real, very limited-edition soap made with my actual bathwater.”
While Sweeney’s soap sold out instantly, many people criticized the product for being strange and objectifying. Sweeney defended the product and revealed to E! News that she was the one who “pitched” the idea.
“I think that it’s more fun to see everybody else talk about it,” she told the outlet.
June
Following the backlash from her soap partnership, Sydney Sweeney attended the premiere for her AppleTV movie Echo Valley. Sweeney starred in the psychological thriller alongside Julianne Moore. In the film, Sweeney plays a heroin addict who seeks out her mother (Moore) for help.
“When you have a scene partner like Julianne, it’s not as hard as you would think,” Sweeney told Variety at the time. “She is such an amazing actress and just so emotionally available and open, it makes you feel safe. So I felt very, very comfortable going to very deep, raw places.”
Later that month, Sweeney was one of the many celebrities in attendance at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding in Venice. At the event, Sweeney connected with Scooter Braun.
July
Sydney Sweeney found herself in another controversial ad campaign two months after her bathwater soap. She partnered with American Eagle for their “Great Jeans” campaign, which seemingly started off with the best of intentions as the brand vowed it would donate the proceeds from their Sydney Jean product to the Crisis Text Line, a mental health charity that provides support for those in need.
However, the messaging got lost in the ads’ delivery as many critics condemned Sweeney’s overt sexual behavior. Others claimed that the campaign promoted eugenics, the highly discredited theory of improving human genetics, which was once used by the Nazis.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” Sweeney said in one clip from the campaign, making a play on the words “jeans” and “genes.”
American Eagle promptly responded to the criticism.
“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” a July statement from the company read. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
While there were countless outspoken critics of Sweeney’s American Eagle ad, many supported the actress including Danica Patrick, Dr. Phil and President Donald Trump.
Sweeney did not address the backlash at the time.
August
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle controversy carried over into August but she didn’t let the negative attention take away from her obligations. She made her first appearance following the backlash at the premiere for her film Americana. Later that month, her thriller Eden hit theaters. The actress was also busy filming Euphoria season 3.
September
At the end of the summer, rumors about Sydney Sweeney’s love life started to heat up. Sweeney was spotted hanging out with Scooter Braun three months after they met at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding. A source told Us at the time things between Sweeney and Scooter Braun were “not serious” as the Anyone But You star was “dating around and in her single era without having any pressure.”
That same month, Sweeney attended the Toronto Film Festival for the premiere of Christy, the biopic about legendary boxer Christy Martin. Ahead of the screening, Sweeney shut down a question about the aftermath of her American Eagle jeans campaign.
“I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I’m not there to talk about jeans,” Sweeney told Vanity Fair at the time. “The movie’s about Christy, and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”
While celebrating the film, Sweeney got emotional and thanked Martin for her constant support throughout the project.
“Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,” Sweeney said at the premiere, per Variety. “And so being able to have her by my side during this process was a dream, but then also just scary too, because you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, we’re, we’re doing this in front of her!’”
October
Sydney Sweeney opened up about how she channels herself into her various roles during an interview with Variety.
“I play a lot of very divisive characters, and I think that a lot of people think they know me, but they don’t,” she told the outlet. “So when people think, ‘Ah, she’s a sex symbol,’ or ‘She’s leaning into that,’ I’m like, ‘No, I just feel good and I’m doing it for myself and I feel strong.’”
She added that she hopes she inspires “other women to be confident and just flaunt what they got and feel good because you shouldn’t have to apologize or hide or cover up in any room.”
Sweeney also made a physical transformation as she debuted a chic blonde bob hairdo.
November
Four months after her American Eagle jeans controversy, Sydney Sweeney broke her silence about the drama.
“I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans,” she said in an interview with GQ at the time. “All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.”
Sweeney explained that she put her “phone away” during the heat of the backlash since she was on set of Euphoria during that time so the controversy didn’t really affect her.
“When I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” she added.
Sweeney’s comments about the ad went viral as social media users debated over the actress’ attitude.
“This is insane to me,” one user wrote via X. “All you had to do was laugh it off as stupid and say ‘Of course I don’t subscribe to genetic superiority of any kind.’ [The GQ reporter] was giving Sydney Sweeney an easy out and she just didn’t take it. That’s wild.”
While another tweeted, “Sydney Sweeney already perfected that, ‘Oh, I was unaware of my actions’ usual non-accountability.”
That same month, Sweeney’s movie Christy hit theaters. While the film earned raved reviews from critics, it suffered at the box office during opening weekend.
After Christy premiered, Ruby Rose slammed Sweeney’s casting in the film and claimed that she was initially attached to the project.
“The original Christy Martin script was incredible. Life changing. I was attached to play [Christy]. Everyone had experience with the core material. Most of us were actually gay. It’s part of why I stayed in acting. Losing roles happens all the time,” Rose claimed via Threads.
Rose continued, “None of ‘the people’ want to see someone who hates them, parading around pretending to be us,” Rose wrote, adding, “You’re a cretin and you ruined the film. Period. Christy deserved better.”
Martin, for her part, defended Sweeney.
“The past few days, I have seen some people attack my friend Sydney Sweeney. Syd not only worked her ass off for this film, she worked her ass off for me. For my story. For so many others suffering in silence,” Martin wrote via Instagram. “So I want to be clear about who Syd is. She is my friend and ally!”
While Sweeney did not address Rose’s critiques, the actress took to social media to share how grateful she was to be part of the film.
“I am so deeply proud of this movie,” Sweeney wrote via Instagram at the time. “Proud of the film David made. proud of the story we told. proud to represent someone as strong and resilient as Christy Martin. This experience has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
December
One month after addressing her controversial American Eagle ad, Sweeney clarified her stance.
“I was honestly surprised by the reaction. I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand,” Sweeney said in an interview with People. “I don’t support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”
Sweeney also returned to the red carpet to promote her final project of the year, her and Amanda Seyfried’s movie The Housemaid.
“Amanda and I became sisters. She was the bestest friend ever,” Sweeney said to Variety of her and Seyfried’s bond while on the red carpet. “We have so much fun together, and I actually think that when you have a scene partner and actor that you can have fun with and you feel safe with and free, it actually makes those kinds of scenes even better.”
Sweeney ended the year setting the record straight about her whether or not she has undergone plastic surgery especially with her boobs.
“No, I’ve never gotten any work done anywhere,” Sweeney said during a YouTube clip of Vanity Fair’s lie detector test, in which the test administrator confirmed her response was “truthful.”
After sharing that she was au naturell, Sweeney flaunted her figure in a white corset gown while attending the Los Angeles premiere for The Housemaid. Sweeney’s look captured the attention of Elon Musk who made a controversial comment on her figure when he shared an AI generated meme about the potential risks for women who have a bigger bust.
“Can’t be easy,” Musk captioned the post shared via X.
Sweeney did not react or respond to the Tesla founder’s comments.