Sydney Sweeney’s SNL cleavage sparks bizarre online debate

Sydney Sweeney hosted SNL for the first time over the weekend - but a clip of her circulating online has proven surprisingly controversial.

Rising star Sydney Sweeney hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time over the weekend - but one clip from her TV appearance has sparked a bizarre debate online.

Footage showing Sweeney at the end of the show, saying goodnight and thanking the audience, has been viewed more than 25 million times on social media - surely due in part to the very low-cut dress Sweeney is wearing.

One tweet, from conservative commentator Richard Hanania, sparked some confusion: “Wokeness is dead,” he captioned the video.

Sydney Sweeney on Saturday Night Live.

Sydney Sweeney on Saturday Night Live.

Fellow conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong agreed, sharing the same footage as proof that “wokeness is so finished.”

Confused? You’re not the only one. Many on the platform questioned the conclusion Hanania was appearing to draw, that an actress wearing a cleavage-revealing outfit on TV means an end to “wokeness.”

“Conservatives keep trying to change the game here, OK? Libs never said women can’t show cleavage. We are the people who are supportive of women owning their own sexuality! OK? We invented that,” writer Ben Dreyfuss responded.

“The brains on the right are just absolutely charbroiled beyond repair. How do [you] see a nice rack and your mind immediately goes to ‘how can I make this political?’” another Twitter user quipped.

Sweeney's banter in this SNL promo had some fans groaning.

Meanwhile, SNL’s writers came under fire last week as Sweeney appeared in teaser promos for the show making jokes about her looks.

In one short clip, she appeared alongside musical guest Kacey Musgraves and SNL cast member Heidi Gardner.“

“Girl power! Love this group of three strong ladies. I bet so many women are gonna tune in this weekend,” Gardner said to which Sweeney replied: “Weirdly, a lot of my fans are men.”

Musgraves then added: “Hmm. I wonder why.”

“Before Saturday comes let me just speak to the snl writers,” one fan commented under the promo video. “I see what you’re about to do … please don’t.”

Musical guest Kacey Musgraves (left) had a minor wardrobe malfunction on camera.

Another added, “They’ve got 48 hours to come up with some better material,” while a third person wrote, “I hate this for her.”

“Sydney Sweeney is more than her boobs. Do better SNL,” another wrote.

Elsewhere in the latest episode of SNL, musical guest Kacey Musgraves suffered a “wardrobe malfunction” on stage that left her embarrassed, but that many viewers assumed was intentional.

As Musgraves returned to the stage for the end of the show, she had a large, white clip in her hair - one that had been accidentally left in place by her stylist as she was getting ready.

“The clip. I forgot to remove the clip,” Musgraves tweeted, as fans assured her they hadn’t even noticed.

Originally published as Sydney Sweeney’s SNL cleavage sparks bizarre online debate