Sydney Sweeney Shows Skin, Power, and Confidence in New Cosmopolitan Shoot
Sydney Sweeney recently sat down with Cosmopolitan and discussed her public image and the tension between who she is and what the internet wants her to be. It centers on how she has become a symbol in culture wars without choosing to be one, while also launching a lingerie brand and posing in a photoshoot that puts her body front and center.
A major focus is how Sweeney’s silence on politics has split public opinion. Some people see her as a hero who refuses to play along with online outrage. Others believe her refusal to speak is a form of approval for harmful ideas. The interview makes it clear that much of this is projection. Sweeney says people have filled in the gaps themselves because she has not given them the clear political statements they want. She explains that she understands the internet’s desire for simple labels, but she chooses not to give them. For her, not speaking is a personal decision, not a strategy.
What’s one narrative Sydney Sweeney wishes the internet would retire? “That I’m a hateful person.”
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) January 29, 2026
For Cosmopolitan, Sydney talks “choice,” control, and the price of silence on the heels of a year that turned her into America’s favorite proxy fight. https://t.co/aAJd0krB1M pic.twitter.com/G80WV3ac7j
She directly addresses the idea that she is being used as a political pawn. She says the beliefs being assigned to her are not hers and that she does not feel the need to correct people who do not know her. At the same time, she admits it is painful to watch a version of herself circulate online that feels disconnected from reality. She draws a clear line between Sydney the real person and “Sydney Sweeney” as a public symbol.
Sydney Sweeney says her experience with internet criticism began with ‘Euphoria’:
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) January 29, 2026
“I play a lot of characters that make questionable decisions or where it’s complicated to like them. People project some of that onto me. But that was scratching the surface of what I’m dealing… pic.twitter.com/XqCmOnzPbl
The interview is paired with a lingerie photoshoot that leaves little to the imagination. The images are bold, revealing, and impossible to separate from the larger conversation around her body. Sweeney acknowledges that images like these carry heavy meaning in a country where women’s bodies are constantly debated. She says the shoot and her brand, SYRN, are about reclaiming control. She frames the lingerie as something made for the wearer, not for outside approval, and stresses that choice is the core idea behind the brand.
Sydney Sweeney knows you’re going to have a lot to say about this.
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) January 29, 2026
The ‘Euphoria’ breakout turned rom-com hitmaker (and now lingerie entrepreneur) is one of the most talked about figures on the internet—whether she likes it or not. For Cosmo, Sydney talks dating as a celebrity,… pic.twitter.com/ouprYfUPRW
Sweeney talks openly about being s***** since Euphoria and how that shaped her desire to take ownership of her image. She shares personal stories about struggling to find bras that fit her body and being criticized for clothing she wore on past projects. Designing SYRN, she says, became a way to protect other women from feeling the same shame or lack of control she experienced.
The interview also touches on her career path, her lack of industry connections, and the work it took to build her career without a safety net. She speaks warmly about mentors and other women in Hollywood who have supported her. On a personal level, she opens up about love, heartbreak, privacy, and the difficulty of dating under constant scrutiny.
Overall, the interview presents Sydney Sweeney as someone trying to live with clarity in a world that profits from confusion. It shows a woman who wants to make art, build businesses, and express herself visually, while refusing to turn her life into a political performance. The central question the interview leaves readers with is not what Sydney Sweeney believes, but why so many people feel entitled to decide that for her.
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