‘It’ll be carnage’: why Sydney Sweeney’s risky political moment may backfire
The Guardian
Mark Borkowski, whose PR clients have included Michael Jackson, Joan Rivers and Van Morrison, said avoiding political entanglements, particularly in the infancy of a career when hopefuls rely on goodwill from all sides, was vital.
It can hardly be said that her career has suffered but Swift was established, said Borkowski, as were other celebrities, such as John Wayne and Charlton Heston who threw themselves into political causes, the former with the Republican party and the latter the civil rights movement and then the National Rifle Association.
“I am fascinated by Sydney Sweeney,” Borkowski said. “She’s become the sort of delicious siren of the gen Z media. She has got all the echoes of Jayne Mansfield or Marilyn Monroe, but she’s totally overpromoted.
“She’s clickbait and it’s the worst idea to declare a political affiliation, especially in the inferno that is American discourse. It’s a massive PR risk because she hasn’t made it yet. She is not Margot Robbie, she does not have Oscars behind her.”
As if to illustrate the danger for celebrities who dip a toe in American politics, Trump later doubled down on his Truth Social platform to praise Sweeney’s instincts and castigate Swift.
He said: “Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!) She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became NO LONGER HOT.
“The tide has seriously turned – Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Sweeney is yet to comment on her political sympathies but plenty of others, beyond Trump, will have a say, said Borkowski. “Silence in politics is really important now because if you don’t, you’re going to be exposed by the full weight of the opposition on social media,” he said. “It’ll be carnage. She’s a bombshell, but she’s not box office yet.”