Sydney Sweeney’s Bathwater Soap Drama Just Got Messier After She Pointed the Finger at Women
Back in May, Sydney Sweeney sparked a collective side-eye when she announced a collab with men’s soap company Dr. Squatch. The product, called Sydney’s Bathwater Bliss, promised bars infused with traces of her actual bathwater. In a press release, Sweeney explained: “When your fans start asking for your bathwater, you can either ignore it, or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap.” She added that the goal was to “help guys wake up to the realities of conventional personal care products and push them towards natural.”
Another line from the release made it clear the campaign leaned into fantasy: “It channels two of the best places on Earth: the great outdoors and Sydney Sweeney’s bathtub.”
The reaction was swift. Many critics said the stunt was dystopian, accusing the actress of “capitalizing off of patriarchy by making yourself the product.” At the time, Sweeney brushed off the criticism, telling E! News: “I think it’s more fun to see everyone else talk about it.” She even confirmed, “I pitched it.”
Sydney Sweeney compares herself to Jacob Elordi
Months later, Sweeney revisited the soap controversy in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Reflecting on the backlash, she said: “It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting. They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.”
Her reference was to Elordi’s infamous bathwater scene in the 2023 film Saltburn, which inspired joke candles and online memes. But as BuzzFeed reported, Elordi was not involved in any of those products, nor did he endorse them. His bathwater remained on screen, while Sweeney’s ended up on store shelves.
The comparison did not land. On X, one viral response read: “yess girl throw women under the bus that’ll really help you beat those allegations.” Another user wrote: “Jacob Elordi was not selling his bath water in any way shape or form… This ain’t the feminist gotcha you think it is.”
The growing backlash to Sydney Sweeney’s brand
The soap was only one piece of the puzzle. Last month, Sweeney faced new criticism for her American Eagle campaign, which featured the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans [genes].” Critics accused the ad of glorifying whiteness and echoing eugenics rhetoric. The backlash grew so loud that even the White House commented, while Donald Trump defended her, citing her Republican registration.
That campaign also drew attention for Sweeney’s delivery in the video, where she spoke with a heavy vocal fry. Many accused her of infantilizing and sexualizing herself to appeal to the male gaze.
Sweeney has not responded to the jeans controversy, but her decision to frame women as the loudest critics of her soap left many fans disillusioned. One user on Reddit put it bluntly: “Taking the ‘the only people who think this super weird and gross thing is weird and gross are girls who are jealous of me!!!’ defense is a strong Cassie move lol.”
Why the bathwater soap keeps coming back
Despite the controversy, the soap itself sold out quickly, with only 5,000 bars made. PopSugar’s Chandler Plante even reviewed it, admitting she felt “pretty clean” afterward, though she acknowledged the health concerns of bathing with someone else’s water. “Calling a bar of soap anti-feminist when we know that men have been sexualizing Sweeney from the jump feels like a bit of a reach,” Plante wrote.
Still, the public conversation around Sydney Sweeney shows no signs of dying down. Whether it’s soap, jeans, or her next campaign, her choices are repeatedly sparking debates about how women navigate—and sometimes reinforce—the structures that commodify them.
