On Saturday, Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney took to Instagram Live in tears to address a viral Twitter post that criticized her appearance. The post referred to her as a “mupphet” and called her “ugly."
"Apparently I am trending on Twitter right now for being ugly,” Sweeney said in the Instagram Live video.”I think it’s really important for people to see how words actually affect people.”
“I know everyone says, ‘You can’t read things,’ and ‘you shouldn’t read things,’ but like, I’m a f*cking person!” she added. “I’m just sitting here with my dog Tink watching HGTV wearing my Snuggie.”
“People need to be nicer on social media because this is really f*cked up,” she said before ending the live video.
Sweeney’s fans came to her defense and showed their support for the actress on social media following the incident:
The 23-year old actress is best known for playing Cassie Howard in the hit HBO show Euphoria. However, there was a moment in time where Sweeney was questioning whether or not she should take the part.
In an interview with MTV, she revealed that she wasn’t sure about taking on the role due to the show’s frequent nudity, being that some characters have been shown half-naked or completely nude in the show.
Sweeney revealed that doing the nude scenes helped improve her self-confidence, which is something that she struggled with in the past.
“I’ve been a self-conscious person, and after filming those scenes, in some way, I was like, I feel empowered,” she shared. “I feel like nobody can judge me. Like, I just, I put myself out there, and I feel the most confident me.”
Sweeney noted that regardless of her celebrity status, she is still a person and wanted to enforce that no one should become susceptible to hate comments. It’s important to know that words do hurt, even if it is through a screen. No one deserves this kind of treatment regardless of whether they are a celebrity or not.