Sydney Sweeney has a knack for getting her name in the headlines no matter what she does. While one expects her to be talked about when her new movies come out, she’s turned a lot of heads with ad campaigns in the past, and it looks like the woman who once sold her own bathwater has done it again.
Last year, Sweeney was at the center of an American Eagle ad campaign for blue jeans that frustrated some with the way it played with the word jeans (genes). In 2026, Sweeney has left her jeans behind and is focusing on her own line of lingerie. This led the Housemaid star to string up some bras on the Hollywood sign, apparently as an advertising stunt. However, the stunt may have broken some rules that could lead the actress to legal problems.
TMZ has video of Sydney Sweeney and a film crew up on the sign stringing up the bras. And while Sweeney apparently had a permit to film at the Hollywood Sign, to include the iconic sign itself in her filming (nevermind to climb up on it to hang the underwear) would have required separate permission from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which her team apparently did not get. TMZ has a copy of an e-mail sent to Sweeney’s team which reads in part…
Please be advised that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce owns the intellectual property rights to use of the image of the Hollywood Sign and neither you nor the production company have sought or received permission to use the images captured for any commercial use. We understand that you received a film permit from FilmLA, whose staff assures me that you were notified of the requirements to seek a license from the Chamber prior to your shoot.
When asked what sort of legal ramifications could be involved the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce did not respond. Potential consequences could run from the civil, like a lawsuit for using the IP of the Hollywood Sign without permission, to the criminal, as charges of trespassing and/or vandilism could be visited.
It unclear if the purpose of the filming at the Hollywood Sign was done for some future ad campaign, or if the bra stunt was just meant to be something to grab attention and make more people aware of Sydney Sweeney’s lingerie line. If the latter was the goal, it appears to have certainly succeeded, though perhaps not quite in the way that was planned. Although Sweeney's previous controversial ad campaigns have been profitable so perhaps this was all part of the plan.
The letter from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce simply requests a conversation so that the two sides can reach an agreement over the use of the Hollywood Sign IP. It seems likely that neither side is particularly looking for this to become a legal matter, and thewy can probably reach some sort of deal to make both sides happy.
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