Pics from the photo shoot, which were shared to social media, show the “Euphoria” star rocking a pink tutu-esque dress by Giambattista Valli and pink tights while posing in pointe shoes that were not properly laced around her ankles.
“Who was the stylist or creative director who said, ‘Hey Sydney, throw on a pair of pointe shoes real quick.’ Y’all are mean for this,” Brennan Clost, a Canadian actor and dancer, said in a now-viral video shared to TikTok.
“The ballet community is having a heyday over this post, ok? And if you’re not a dancer, I’ll walk you through what everyone’s critiquing, or like, barfing over.”
The TikTok user, 28, explained that 25-year-old Sweeney’s left foot was incorrectly positioned over the “box” of her shoe while en pointe, while the ribbons were tied in a “horrendous” fashion.
“I don’t know who tied these for her, but they did her f–king dirty,” he argued. “Your ribbons are supposed to…tie your ribbons on the inside of your ankle.”
Clost added that the bottom of Sweeney’s shoes didn’t even look broken in and were “giving brick.” The “Tiny Pretty Things” star also pointed out the way her hand was positioned, calling it “hamburger hand.”
But that’s not all. Clost also noted that the “Handmaid’s Tale” alum may have been holding onto a ballet barre that was strategically edited out of the photo.
“The way that her body is set up, there is no way that her weight is actually over that standing leg and she’d be able to balance long enough for them to get a photo,” he alleged.
Clost clarified that he doesn’t have anything against Sweeney personally, but that the anger was directed toward the mastermind behind the photo shoot’s concept.
“No hate to Sydney. Love that girl. This was a stylist or a creative director that really said, ‘Let’s give the internet something to talk about,’” he said.
His final note was that that the fashion industry shouldnt be using people with zero dance experience to model with a ballet concept.
“There’s enough ballet dancers out there. Why are we picking people with no dance experience and being like, ‘You know what will be fun? Throw in a little tutu and a pair of pointe shoes for the shoot today girl.’ Like, we need to stop doing that,” he argued.
Several people on the internet echoed the same sentiments as Clost and were offended by Sweeney’s post.
“Now girl… the pointe shoes… my dancer heart is broken,” one person wrote on Instagram.
“Why the pointe?!?! It’s really unsafe and an insult to the ballet community,” added another.
“Ballet dancers go through too much hell to not be the first option for ballet photography tbh lol,” A TikTok user said.
“NOOOOOOOO! Ballet It’s NOT a joke. Ballet it’s not for this. She could’ve broken her ankle EASILY. STOP DOING THIS. It’s insulting to us who have dedicated our lives to the sport,” a dancer added.
An impassioned critic then shared, “This is honestly disrespectful to all the dancers who’ve dedicated their lives to the art. It takes a lifetime of countless hours spent striving for perfection; losing sleep, skipping meals, tolerating abusive teachers, hours upon hours of staring at yourself in the mirror for hours on end picking apart every little detail. Not one hair can be out of place. It feels mocking to those who’ve earned their right to proudly wear their pointe shoes. This is personally upsetting seeing everyone call this beautiful. It is entirely the opposite. The beauty of ballet comes purely from the dedication to it, not the imitation of it.”
Enlarge Image Many believed that putting Sweeney in pointe shoes was dangerous.
Others, however, defended Sweeney’s photos, saying that she was only taking inspiration from the dancing world and didn’t need to be a professional.
“Why is everyone so pressed over this. 🙄🙄. She looks beautiful,” one fan said.
6What do you think? Post a comment.
“It’s art. There is no wrong way in art,” a second agreed.
“It’s an artistic/editorial photoshoot, anyone can cosplay as whatever they want for a photoshoot (provided it’s not offensive),” a third stated.
Sweeney has yet to respond to the backlash.