Sydney Sweeney's nude Euphoria scene used loophole to air before federal window
Sydney Sweeney left very little to the imagination when her Euphoria character Cassie sought to entertain her OnlyFans audience in the latest episode of the HBO show, so much so that creators would have been limited by federal law if it weren't for a simple loophole.
In the episode 'America My Dream', which aired tonight (April 19), Sweeney's character can be seen fully topless as she poses for her fans, before later appearing almost completely naked aside from a cap, shin pads and shoes, with only her most private parts covered with her hands.
Needless to say, this is some pretty NSFW viewing, and would no doubt fall into the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) definition of 'obscene, indecent and profane content'.
The commission describes obscene content as that which appeals 'to an average person's prurient interest', depicts or describes 'sexual conduct in a "patently offensive" way', and is 'taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value'.
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Meanwhile, indecent content is categorized as that which portrays 'sexual or excretory organs or activities in a way that is patently offensive, but does not meet the three-prong test for obscenity'.
The FCC bans the broadcasting of obscene content at all times of the day, while indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6am and 10pm.
So how exactly was HBO able to air Cassie's raunchy behavior at 9pm ET?
The simple loophole comes down to the fact that HBO is a cable channel, with the FCC explaining: "The same rules for indecency and profanity do not apply to cable, satellite TV and satellite radio because they are subscription services."
Even so, Sweeney's full-frontal appearance - undeniably some of her most explicit scenes yet - will no doubt have shocked viewers, especially after Euphoria fans were already taken aback by her character's 'puppy play' exploits and scenes of her dressed as a baby in the latest season.
In one scene, Cassie is joined by her fiancé, Jacob Elordi's Nate Jacobs, who holds Cassie on a leash while she's dressed in a corset, a headband with animal ears, and makeup to look like a dog's nose.
While the scene sparked backlash, Euphoria's creator Sam Levinson defended the scene as he told The Hollywood Reporter: "[Cassie] has got her dog house and her little dog ears and the nose, and that has its own humor, but what makes the scene is the fact that her housekeeper is the one filming it.
"What we wanted to always find is the other layer of absurdity that we’re able to tie into it so that we’re not too inside of her fantasy or illusion — the gag is to jump out, to break the wall."
Levinson continued: "Some of these scenes we only lit with these ring lights that she would use... When you’re inside, it’s a beautiful, glowing front light, but then you jump out of it and it’s just a pool of light and everything surrounding it is dark. It’s just gnarly and jarring.
"We wanted to capture what she’s trying to show the audience and be inside of it, but then also pull back wider and see how depressing it is."
What has Sydney Sweeney said about her nude scenes on Euphoria?
2019
After the first season of Euphoria premieres, Sweeney tells HuffPost: "The thing about the nudity in this show is that it’s not glamorized. It’s not, ‘Oh, here’s a pair of tits.’ It’s just real.
“I had to look at the whole picture of the entirety of the show, and I just fell in love with the rawness and the situations and the emotions that all these characters go through.”
2022
Following the release of the second series, Sweeney reveals that on occasion she pushed back on the levels of nudity director Sam Levinson called for.
She tells The Independent: "There are moments where Cassie was supposed to be shirtless and I would tell Sam, ‘I don’t really think that’s necessary here.’ He was like, ‘OK, we don’t need it’.
"I’ve never felt like Sam has pushed it on me. When I didn’t want to do it, he didn’t make me.”
Around the same time, she also calls out the double standard around nude scenes, telling Cosmopolitan: "There are hour-long compilations of world-famous male actors with nude scenes who win Oscars and get praised for that work. But the moment a woman does it, it degrades them.”
2023
The following year, Sweeney also reveals that fans are trolling her online with screenshots of Cassie's nude scenes.
She tells The Sun: "It got to the point where they were tagging my family. My cousins don’t need that. It’s completely disgusting and unfair
“You have a character that goes through the scrutiny of being a sexualised person at school and then an audience that does the same thing."
2025
In spite of the trolling over her nude scenes and the sexism she’s come up against, Sweeney says she’s not hesitant to perform nude scenes when a script calls for it.
She tells W Magazine: "I don’t get nervous. I think that the female body is a very powerful thing. And I’m telling my character’s story, so I owe it to them to tell it well and to do what needs to be done."
Topics: Euphoria, Sydney Sweeney, HBO, Film and TV, Celebrity
Emily Brown