HITTING BACK
‘I was told my boobs looked like two fried eggs’ – Hollywood stars who put critics to shame after Sydney Sweeney blasted
One A-lister says she missed out on hit movie because 'my boobs weren’t bigger than my head'
THERE is constructive criticism... and then there's the bizarre insults these stunning celebs have had to shut down over the years.
This week, Sydney Sweeney clapped back at a producer who said she’s “not pretty” and “can’t act”, saying it was “sad” that a woman in that position would try and tear her down.
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Producer Carol Baum faced a backlash after tearing into the Hollywood It-girl, 26, saying she “doesn’t understand” why everyone loves the starlet.
“I wanted to know who she is and why everybody’s talking about her," the 81-year-old said at an event in New York last week.
"I watched this unwatchable movie [Sydney’s recent romantic comedy, ‘Anyone But You’]...I said to my class, explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act - why’s she so hot?”
Sydney responded via a representative to Variety, saying she felt it was sad that a woman in Carol’s position would tear another down.
“If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful," she said.
"To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms Baum’s character.”
Although Baum told TMZ she regrets her comments, it’s far from the first time a Hollywood star has been told she wasn’t good looking enough - and definitely not the first time they’ve clapped back at criticism.
Sarah Jessica Parker
In 2007, Sarah Jessica Parker was cruelly voted by Maxim as “the unsexiest woman alive” - a vote she said was “incredibly hurtful” for her and her family.
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The two-time Emmy award winner said it was “brutal” to have gained the title.
“[It’s so] filled with rage and anger. It upset [her husband Matthew Broderick] because it has to do with his judgement too.”
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The Sex and the City star topped the list ahead of other entries like Madonna, Sandra Oh and Britney Spears.
“It's kind of shocking... It's condemnation, it's insane. What can I do? I guess you can't please all people.”
Zendaya
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In 2015, Zendaya walked the red carpet at the Oscars dressed in a white silk Vivienne Westwood gown and waist-length dreadlocks, pulled into a half-up style.
Giuliana Ranic, the then-host of E! Network’s Fashion Police, said she thought the dreads overwhelmed Zendaya’s frame and the hair looked as if it “smelled like patchouli and weed”.
Zendaya, then 18, stood up for herself on Instagram with a well-thought-out response to the undertones of Guiliana’s comments.
She said: “To say that an 18-year-old young woman with locs must smell of patchouli oil or ‘weed’ is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive.
"I don’t usually feel the need to respond to negative things but certain remarks cannot go unchecked.”
Her clapback made Guilana apologise first via Twitter/X, then again on air when she admitted her comment had “crossed the line”.
She said: “I want to say to Zendaya and anyone else out there that I hurt that I’m sincerely sorry.”
Elle Fanning
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Elle Fanning, famed for her roles in ‘The Great’ and ‘Maleficent’, once told the story of how she missed out on a role in a film about a father and daughter road trip because the producers didn’t think she was hot enough.
She told the story for the first time in a round table discussion with other stars Natasha Lyonne, Ayo Edebiri, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Devery Jacobs.
She said: “I didn’t hear it from my agents because they wouldn’t tell me things like this….but this one got to me.
"I was 16 years old and a person said “oh she didn’t get that father-daughter road trip comedy because she’s un-f**kable.”
Elle went on to say the comment was “so disgusting” but she could laugh at it now.
She added: “What a disgusting pig!”
Gwyneth Paltrow
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Sometimes the toughest critics aren't the film reviewers, but the ones a little closer to home.
When Gwyneth Paltrow filmed a topless scene for the 1999 film Shakespeare In Love she revealed her grandad delivered one of the most cutting remarks of her career.
She recalled: “In Shakespeare In Love I had to take my shirt off and be naked and I was worried because my grandad was a very conservative person.
“So before he got in the cinema, I told him that I had to do it because it was a very important role for me and all that.
"And he just said, ‘Don’t worry, that will be like two eggs in a pan’.”
Thankfully, Gweneth saw the funny side - not least because it landed her an Oscar!
Reese Witherspoon
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Reese Witherspoon almost missed out on her starring part in Legally Blonde because the studio didn’t think she was sexy enough for the role.
“They thought I was a shrew”, Reese said. The star attributes this to her previous role in Election where she played a high school overacheiver.
She said she was told to “dress sexy” - and clearly it worked, as Reese’s role as Elle Woods is now one of her most famous.
However, Reese said the situation is crazy in hindsight.
“It’s funny to think of all the things we were told to do back then because now you’re thinking, ‘Oh God if someone told my daughter to do that she’d be like, I really hope you’re joking.”
Kate Beckinsale
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Kate Beckinsale said she almost wasn’t cast in ‘Pearl Harbor’ because director Michael Bay didn’t think she was hot enough.
“I think he was alarmed because I wasn’t blonde and my boobs weren’t bigger than my head,” she said in 2016.
“I didn’t make sense to him as an attractive woman.”
She managed not to take the near-rejection personally, however, saying it was “so extreme” that she didn’t take it to heart.
Bay later responded on his website, insisting he had unfairly been made out as a "bad guy" and that he was on good terms with the star.
“Kate and I are friendly,” he wrote. “She is a fantastic actress, very funny, witty lady, sassy, speaks her mind and I truly respect her. That’s why she has come to so many of my Christmas parties and Birthday parties.
“So I guess I was the ‘bad guy’ 16 years ago for suggesting a trainer because she just had her new beautiful baby girl - and she was about to enter into an intensive action movie. Not to reporters: 95 per cent of leads in movies have trainers and drink green juice!”
Winona Ryder
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Winona Ryder, who was the it-girl of the 80s, and has recently sprung back into the limelight with her starring role in the Netflix show ‘Stranger Things’, revealed she was told when she was younger to give up on acting because she wasn’t pretty enough.
At one audition in the mid-80s she recalled a casting director stopping her halfway through her sentence and telling her to pack it in.
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“You should not be an actress. You are not pretty enough. You should go back to where you came from and you should go to school.”
Luckily, Winona didn’t listen to the criticism and went on to become one of the 80s most popular stars.