Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney sent online backlash to a series of photos and videos from her mother’s 60th birthday party, which the actress posted to Instagram on Saturday.
Among the photos posted by the Emmy-nominated talent is an image depicting an unidentified man wearing a blue shirt emblazoned with a flag of lives, a symbol of the anti-police movement created in response to Black Lives Matter.
The photos, taken at a hoedown-themed birthday party for Sweeney’s mother, were captioned: “No better way to celebrate my mom than with a surprise hoedown.” The actress also shared photos from the event on her Instagram story featuring line dancing and a rodeo-themed cake.
After the photos and videos were posted early Saturday, social media users began speculating about Sweeney and her family’s politics and whether Sweeney’s stance on blue lives matters in light of the unidentified person seen on the shirt.
“Guys this is wild. An innocent celebration of my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention,” she tweeted in response to criticism of her photos, which trended on Saturday. “Please stop making assumptions.”
Guys this is wild. An innocent celebration of my mom’s 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Stop making assumptions. Much love to all ♥️ and Happy Birthday Mom! — Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) August 27, 2022 In addition to Blue Shirt Matters for Lives, additional criticism emerged after social media users noticed that photos posted by one of Sweeney’s family members from the event included people wearing “Make 60 Great Again” hats – a reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
In an Aug. 2 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sweeney talked about the impact her family has had on her career while discussing a video of her sharing news of her Emmy nomination with her mother.
“I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my dreams without her supporting this decision,” he said. “I was 12, 13 years old and my mom and dad gave up everything they knew so I could follow my dreams. We lost friends, we lost our home, we lost everything to chase it.”
At the height of the racial justice and Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020, Sweeney shared her support for the movement like many Hollywood celebrities through her social media. “[W]I have to do better. the hate in this world must end. #BlackLivesMatter,” he tweeted.
Black Lives Matter is a grassroots political and social movement that began in 2013 after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, that confronts systemic racism and police brutality against Black people. The Blue Lives Matter movement was formed in response to BLM and argued that officers and other emergency personnel should be a protected class, with the ability for individuals to be prosecuted for hate crimes in cases where they are convicted of killing law enforcement.
The ACLU of New York condemned the Blue Lives Matter bills proposed by conservative politicians across the country, describing them as “a deeply inappropriate attempt to equate a voluntarily chosen career with the immutable characteristics they create under our civil protection laws rights”. The civil liberties group also said they “undermine efforts to improve police-community relations while doing nothing to improve officer safety.”
