Gigi Paris breaks silence on how Sydney Sweeney dating rumors fueled Glen Powell split
If you were on the internet during the "Anyone but You" press tour, it was hard to make it two scrolls without running into a theory about Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney dating.
The co-stars, both engaged to other people at the time, were being "shipped" left and right as photos emerged of the two on set looking cozy (a likely thing for two rom-com stars to be mid-shoot), and neither party opted to shut down the rumors.
A time-honored tradition in Hollywood, the fervor around the possibility of a real-life romance drove box office sales for the fake romance. But it wasn't without collateral damage.
In 2023, Powell and his fiancée, Gigi Paris, called it quits. Now, Paris is speaking out about how the movie contributed to their downfall.
Speaking to host Emma Paige on the "Too Much" podcast June 10, Paris said she first became aware of the rumors online and told Powell, "the whole world is watching" and to "proceed with caution, please."
He didn't receive that well, she said, and the relationship began to deteriorate from there. She revealed she was once scheduled to meet him in Australia, where "Anyone but You" was filming, when Powell called to tell her, "The producers and I have discussed that I think it's best that you don't come to visit."
"I think that's when I just also fell out of love," she said, explaining that she broke it off with him shortly after, only to later learn that he and Sweeney had been encouraging the speculation to help with the film.
"The two things that you have to sell a rom-com are fun and chemistry. Sydney and I have a ton of fun together, and we have a ton of effortless chemistry," Powell said in an interview with the New York Times that published a year after their split. "That's people wanting what's on the screen off the screen, and sometimes you just have to lean into it a bit — and it worked wonderfully. Sydney is very smart."
"I don't know if there was a relationship there or not, but then they came out to say it was all a PR scheme at the expense of our relationship," Paris said on the podcast.
"I just wanted respect, especially if it's going to be public," she continued, "Like, just don't make a fool out of someone you've been with for over three years, talking about forever with. Just have some decency."
Sweeney has since split with fiancé Jonathan Davino, only adding fuel to the still-burning dating rumors between her and Powell.