Sydney Sweeney was ‘mis-treated’ — but playing a boxer helped toughen her up to face down haters: Source

Sydney Sweeney once again found herself at the center of national controversy this week.

On Wednesday, the actress, 28, left nothing to the imagination when she was honored at the Variety Power of Women event in Beverly Hills — and went braless in a sheer silver dress. As usual, social media was passionately divided over whether it was a “showstopper” or an abomination.

“She’s literally at the Power of Women podium talking about being underestimated while wearing a dress that puts her body on display more than her message” was typical of the criticism on Instagram.

But that was nothing compared to the outrage the night before, when she surprised nearly 15 million US sports fans by making a cameo during Fox’s World Series pregame coverage.

Sporting a new Marilyn Monroe-esque blonde bob the “Euphoria” actress introduced Game 4 of the series between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays.

“Winning, real winning, isn’t polished. It’s bruised, it’s messy, it’s imperfect, it’s everything you can’t fake . . . Let’s just save the Hollywood for the ending,” she said.

But some viewers were quick to cast Sweeney as the villain.

“Why the hell am I watching Sydney Sweeney promote the World Series. Trash,” one user griped on X — while others saw it as a political divide.

“Every liberal watching the World Series just lost their s–t when Sydney Sweeney showed up. Gotta love it,” another person wrote.

Months after her high-profile American Eagle jeans campaign sparked a similar meltdown, Sweeney has become a lightning rod for this country. But sources say the haters won’t get her down.

“She kicks ass,” former pro boxer Christy Martin told Page Six of Sweeney.

Martin is the real-life inspiration for Sweeney’s new movie, “Christy,” out Friday. The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski calls her performance “a knockout” and Oscar buzz is already swirling.

“I never could imagine the It girl in Hollywood could get down, get dirty and be me,” Martin raved.

Other insiders say the role helped Sweeney find her inner toughness.

“Sydney went through a lot with someone in her past who mistreated her,” said one source. “This person used her and took advantage of her — including financially.”

Page Six has reached out to Sweeney’s representatives for comment.

Playing Christy “gave her the strength to remind herself who she is,” the source added.

“Christy taught me a lot about myself, actually,” Sweeney herself told an LA audience after a screening in October. “She taught me how to stand up for myself more and feel stronger in my personal life, my work life . . .

“We both fight our own fights in different types of rings and, yeah, check in on your friends and make sure they’re all OK.”

As for the movie’s domestic violence storyline — Martin was very nearly killed by her abusive husband back in 2010 — Sweeney told Variety: “It’s a very personal issue that’s important to me, and I hope that through Christy and her story, it can raise more awareness.”

Variety’s Tatiana Siegel then wrote, “’It’s personal,’ she repeats, her blue eyes flashing pain.”

The biopic follows Martin from her small-town roots as a coal miner’s daughter in West Virginia to becoming a breakout star of the boxing world, with her then-husband James Martin, played by Ben Foster, as her manager.

There are the shocking scenes that re-create the moment Martin was stabbed three times and shot in the chest by James when she asked for a divorce. He was later convicted of second-degree murder in the case and sentenced to 25 years in prison, where he died in 2024

At the time of the attack, Martin was the welterweight champion and the first female to sign with promoter Don King. She is also the first and, so far only, female boxer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated

The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, received a standing ovation, bringing Sweeney to tears.

“She lost Sydney Sweeney in this movie and found Christy,” Martin said. “She’s in a tough business as we know. I think she is a strong woman. I hope she finds a little extra strength to be herself, stand on her own two feet and to not let people convince her to do anything that she doesn’t want to.”

Martin recalled how she first met Sweeney over Zoom and then in person.

“She had done her homework. She had the boxing stuff down. We talked a little bit about domestic violence,” the athlete said. The movie “just puts a stamp on the impact that she can have on this world and this next generation of females that are going to look up to her and say, ‘Look what she’s done.’“

For better or for worse, depending on your viewpoint.

Sweeney caused a furor over the summer when her American Eagle campaign was slammed as so-called “Nazi propaganda” and a “racialized dog whistle.”

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color,” she said in the spot, adding: “My jeans are blue.”

Despite social media pressure on American Eagle to pull the campaign, the company’s stock surged and sales of its clothing rose. The Sweeney Cinched Waist denim jacket sold out in a day, the Sydney Jean sold out in a week and nearly a million new customers flocked to the brand in the three months after the ad debuted.

Sweeney’s cleavage even started a firestorm in 2023, spawning a slew of think pieces when she wore a series of low necklines on “Saturday Night Live.”

This week at the Variety Women in Power event ’90s sex symbol Sharon Stone defended Sweeney.

“You know, it’s hard to be hot . . . And it’s really OK to use every bit of hotness you have right here, right now, and go for whatever that is,” Stone said.

After Tuesday’s World Series game, which Sweeney was at in LA with Martin and other friends — stealing the spotlight from fellow attendees Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — the actress reportedly cracked up at jokes about her breasts.

Her “titties are always out” on “Euphoria” the HBO series on which she co-stars. “She’s at the pharmacy and her titties are out — it’s wild,” comedian Erik Griffin cracked during a show at the Laugh Factory.

Sweeney was at the performance with rumored new boyfriend Scooter Braun, 44, who formerly managed the music careers of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and others.

The two met in Venice at the June wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, after Sweeney split from her onetime fiancé, restaurateur Jonathan Davino, 42, in March.

A source previously told People the relationship fell apart when Sweeney realized she wasn’t ready to get married and “didn’t feel right” about her relationship.

Davino and Sweeney, according to an insider, are “still friends … He wishes her well. They’re still in touch and on good terms. They were a team. They have companies together.” 

In 2022, Sweeney told The Hollywood Reporter that, after doling out payments to her agent manager and others, her “Euphoria” salary was not enough to comfortably survive on in Hollywood.

“If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that,” she said.

Now, she is one of the most powerful actresses around.

Sweeney was reportedly bumped up to $1 million per episode for the second season of “Euphoria,” and her movie paydays jumped from $2 million for “Anyone But You” in 2023 to $7 million for the upcoming movie “The Housemaid.”

“I think Sydney is incredibly talented,” one Hollywood industry source told Page Six. “I think she is one of the most talented young women around, but she has a lot riding on her to live up to the hype, and that’s a lot for anyone.”

Martin — who Sweeney now calls one of her best friends — has some advice for the young actress as she swims among Hollywood’s sharks and haters everywhere.

“I continue to remind her to be true to her,” the boxer told Page Six “Be careful – have a small circle. And be careful of who you let in that circle.”