Sydney Sweeney Was Caught Pirating A TV Series & Twitter Isn't Holding Back

Television

Sydney Sweeney posted an Instagram story that appears to show her pirating a popular procedural drama, and fans have a lot to say.

In a story that has since vanished from her profile, Sweeney posted a shot of the intro sequence of "Law & Order: Organized Crime," the buzzy spin-off that brought "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" veteran Christopher Meloni back to his role as NYPD detective Elliot Stabler. Apparently, eagle-eyed fans of the "Euphoria" actress noticed that she's using a service that may or may not be fully legal. Naturally, people had thoughts about this.

As PopCrave posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), "Sydney Sweeney fans spot her allegedly pirating 'Law & Order' on an illegal free streaming platform," and those fans responded. "as she should, cus who do we look paying for 10 platforms, when we can watch different movies for free in one place," @crulsmmr wrote in a response to PopCrave's post. @KarmaIsAFad put things pretty succinctly, writing, "as she should. icon." @ladidaix argued that Sweeney did nothing wrong even if she did pirate the show, saying, "ALLEGEDLY. sydney innocent!" with four crying-face emojis. To be frank, pretty much all of the responses were praising Sweeney; whether she did pirate the popular Peacock series is unconfirmed, but her fans think it's kind of cool.

Sydney Sweeney's fans came out to support their fave over potential content piracy

Sydney Sweeney's potentially suspect TV-watching habits haven't exactly pushed away her fans. In fact, it actually seemed to make a lot of them like her more. As @flglmn wrote in a repost of PopCrave, "if they were true fans they'd keep their f***ing mouths shut." @ennuixxx agreed in a reply and referenced a now-antiquated ad, saying, "when the RIAA said pirating CDs was a moral slippery slope in the "before times' they didn't anticipate Sydney Sweeney, pirate-queen of the Cali-Nevada hinterlands." @peoplewatchinq said that Sweeney's alleged piracy really makes her a woman of the people — "shes so real for pirating [Sydney Sweeney] love u qween" — while @KritPick wished that people had left well enough alone: "You lot are so foul for pointing our Sydney Sweeney was pirating, you shoulda just seen it, respected it and kept it moving, but now she in the news ya bozos."

Another user, @thatmedepresso, brought up a recent social media post by Brooklyn Beckham (son of David and Victoria) where he appeared to be flying on a commercial flight in economy class, writing, "brooklyn beckham flying economy and sydney sweeney pirating tv shows............... celebrities are just like me." @fromdusktiljuan, though, probably made the funniest (and most convincing) point about the whole thing: "In her defense, Sydney Sweeney does sound like a pirate's name. 'Arrgh, me name is Sweeney, not mistake it with Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street!!'"

Sydney Sweeney is one of Hollywood's biggest rising stars

Potential piracy aside, there's no doubt that Sydney Sweeney is one of young Hollywood's most prominent stars, thanks to some well-chosen projects on the small screen and her work as a producer on her own films. After gaining some notoriety in small roles in projects like "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Sharp Objects," Sweeney's biggest break came thanks to the controversial HBO series "Euphoria," where the Spokane, Washington native plays the troubled teenager Cassie Howard. Sweeney has actually worked pretty extensively on HBO in her short yet illustrious career; she also headlined the premium network's original movie "Reality" and played a major role in the first season of Mike White's buzzy anthology series "The White Lotus."

As far as films go, yes — Sweeney did show up in the critical and commercial flop "Madame Web" in 2024, but she preceded it with the surprise box office smash "Anyone But You" and followed it with the creepy horror hit "Immaculate," both of which she produced through her company Fifty-Fifty Films. Despite her success, Sweeney has also been open about her sometimes precarious financial situation; in 2022, she said that she works non-stop to support herself and her family. Maybe, with that in mind, we can give her a break about maybe pirating a show.