There she is, near-naked on a billboard in Times Square, strategically covered by footballs and basketballs in a provocative campaign for sports prediction market Novig that has infuriated female athletes.
asserted
that → cover → athletes
And there she is again, stripping down to promote the latest collection from her own lingerie company, SYRN — aptly entitled “Birthday Boobs” — which was timed to coincide with her 29th birthday on Sept. 12.
asserted
which → strip → Sept.
The “Anyone But You” star also found time to turn heads in a sheer gown in Venice for Armani Beauty on Sept. 1.
asserted
star → find → Sept.
But amid this relentless, hyper-sexualized exposure — and after leaving her longtime reps at ImPRint PR earlier this month — it’s Sweeney’s relationship with music mogul Scooter Braun, 16 years her senior, that has Hollywood asking: Who is really running the Sydney Sweeney show?
asserted
Who → leave → show
“Sydney absolutely listens to Scooter,” an industry source who knows the couple told Page Six.
asserted
who → listen → couple
“And Scooter has absolutely been helping to broker her deals.”
asserted
Scooter → help → deals
Indeed, we’re told Braun was so smitten with the star, he told anyone who would listen that she was on a real path to win awards for her movie, “Christy,” in which she trained tirelessly and gained over 30 pounds to play the real-life embattled boxer Christy Martin.
asserted
she → tell → boxer
It was to be her unglamorous breakout moment, à la Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning turn in “Monster” or Margot Robbie’s Oscar-nominated performance in “I, Tonya.”
asserted
It → win → I
Instead, there were no awards, and the movie grossed just $2.3 million worldwide, against an estimated $15 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
uncertain
movie → be → Mojo
This week, Page Six Hollywood reported that WME boss Ari Emanuel told Sweeney to dump Braun for the sake of her career in January as she went shopping for new representation after her former manager, Jennifer Millar, moved to Brillstein.
asserted
manager → report → Brillstein
(Emanuel denied this.)
asserted
Emanuel → deny → this
Sweeney went on to sign with rival CAA earlier this month, and is now represented by Carrie Gordon at the Lede Company.
asserted
Sweeney → go → Company
Puck’s Matt Belloni reported that Braun, the former manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, “inserted himself into the process,” setting up a dinner with CAA bigwig Kevin Huvane.
asserted
Braun → report → Huvane
Sources told the outlet that Millar was actually in the loop.
asserted
Millar → tell → loop
We have reached out to reps for Sweeney and Braun.
asserted
We → reach → Sweeney
But some in Hollywood believe Sweeney has a bigger problem than who represents her.
asserted
who → believe → her
“To me, she’s taken her fan base for granted,” said the industry source.
asserted
source → take → base
“Sydney had that rare thing where she’s super pretty, but women still loved her …
asserted
women → have → her
[But] her lingerie brand is being marketed to men instead of women.
asserted
brand → market → men
From what I hear, SYRN is calling around looking for help from branding experts.”
asserted
SYRN → hear → experts
At first, Braun shrugged off romance rumors, telling friends Sweeney was too young for him, we’re told.
asserted
we → shrug → him
But they soon became serious.
asserted
they → become → ?
On Sweeney’s birthday, Braun posted an emotional Instagram tribute calling her “the woman who is the exception to every rule” and writing that she had shown him what a “true partnership” looks like.
asserted
partnership → post → what
Another friend in Braun’s circle told us he would love her to convert to Judaism, adding, “He definitely got her team all shook up.”
But a Sydney pal disputes that assertion.
asserted
pal → tell → assertion
“Sydney has had the same group around her for years.
asserted
Sydney → have → years
Stewart Brookman is the only lawyer she’s ever had.
asserted
she → have → ?
Jennifer Millar was her longtime agent before becoming her manager in November 2025, and Hannah Tenenbaum has been her brand agent from the beginning.
asserted
Tenenbaum → become → beginning
Despite some of the chatter, no one on her team is ‘shaken up,’ ” the said.
asserted
the → shake → team
Yet for all the chatter about Braun’s influence, there is another possibility: Sydney Sweeney is doing exactly what Sydney Sweeney wants.
asserted
Sweeney → be → what
“She knows exactly what she’s doing and has a long history of baiting audiences to get attention,” Rachel Richardson, writer of the pop culture trends Substack “Highly Flammable,” told Page Six.
asserted
Richardson → know → Page
“Indeed, this has become something of an annual tradition.”
asserted
this → become → tradition
And Sweeney’s appetite for provocation predates Braun.
asserted
appetite → predate → Braun
Last year, she partnered with Dr. Squatch to sell bars of soap made using her bathwater.
asserted
she → partner → bathwater
Sweeney’s Bathwater Bliss crashed the company’s website and the bars later appeared on eBay for thousands of dollars.
asserted
bars → crash → dollars
The play on “jeans” and “genes” prompted accusations of racial insensitivity, while other critics accused the campaign of catering to the male gaze.
asserted
critics → prompt → gaze
Sweeney later told People she had been shocked by the fallout, saying, “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together.
asserted
I → tell → people
I’m against hate and divisiveness.
asserted
I → ’m → hate
But she didn’t stop provoking, and now there is the Novig campaign.
asserted
she → stop → ?
CEO Jacob Fortinsky said this week that Sweeney herself drove much of the creative direction behind the controversial campaign after approaching the company about an equity partnership.
asserted
Sweeney → say → partnership
“It really was Sydney who was driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging,” he said.
asserted
he → drive → visuals
…and 35 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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