Sydney Sweeney could face legal woes after hanging bras on Hollywood sign

Actress Sydney Sweeney could face legal problems after she engineered a publicity stunt, hanging bras on the iconic “Hollywood” sign in California.

The “Euphoria” star, 28, was captured on video recently scaling the H of the sign that overlooks Hollywood, apparently to promote her new lingerie brand, SYRN by Sydney Sweeney, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sweeney posted a video to her Instagram on Monday night, Variety reported. In the footage, she and a small team loaded a van full of the undergarments and headed to the sign.

TMZ reported on the footage. But according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Sweeney’s alleged actions were not authorized.

The Times reported that the chamber owns the intellectual property rights to the sign, which is managed by the nonprofit Hollywood Sign Trust. The chamber and the trust did not know about Sweeney’s video until they viewed it, according to the newspaper/

“Anyone intending to use and/or access the Hollywood Sign for commercial purposes must obtain a license or permission from the Hollywood Chamber to do so,” the chamber’s chief, Steve Nissen, said in a statement. “The production involving Sydney Sweeney and the Hollywood Sign, as reported by TMZ, was not authorized by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce nor did we have prior knowledge of it.”

Sweeney’s team did obtain a general permit to film in the area from FilmLA, according to the Times.

But filming the sign requires additional clearance and payment of a licensing fee, the chamber said.

According to Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Officer Tony Im, a police report that could lead to a trespass and review by prosecutors has not been filed, the Times reported.

The sign was built in 1923. While climbing onto or altering the sign is prohibited, it has happened through the years.

In an infamous incident in 1976, the sign’s letters were changed to “Hollyweed” by a local college student when California downgraded the state’s law of a small amount marijuana possession from a felony to a misdemeanor, the Times reported.

The stunt was repeated in 2017, according to the newspaper.

In 1987, Caltech students changed the sign overnight to read “Caltech.”

It is not the first time Sweeney has been at the center of controversy. A November 2025 campaign for American Eagle jeans featured the actress and the tagline, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” Variety reported.’

The pun on “great genes” nevertheless sparked a backlash on social media, as critics complained that the promotion glorified Sweeney’s white heritage.

The actress later said in an interview with GQ that she did believe she had to explain her participation in the promotion.

“I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think,” Sweeney said.

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