There’s a hot new accessory on starlets’ arms these days and it’s not a luxury bag or a piece of jewelry – it’s a sibling.
Last week, ‘it’ girl actress Sydney Sweeney, 27, walked the red carpet at a London premiere for her new film Echo Valley with her rarely seen younger brother, Trent, 25.
Sweeney, who split from her long-time fiancé, producer Jonathan Davino, 41, in February, eschewed a romantic date and chose to make the event a family affair. She posed in a baby-blue halter neck gown with a flowing tulle train alongside Trent, who wore a black Prada suit.
And it’s easy to see why so many celebrities might take their siblings to red carpet events.
With the paparazzi and fans watching your every move for gossip, bringing a love interest can be more trouble than it’s worth – a sibling, on the other hand, is a safe PR choice, there’s no drama, no speculation and no stealing the limelight.
For Sweeney, her brother, who is a member of the US Air Force and is based in the UK, seemed to be an uncontroversial choice of date.
Last week, ‘it’ girl actress Sydney Sweeney, 27, walked the red carpet at a London premiere for her new film Echo Valley with her rarely seen younger brother, Trent, 25
In the wake of her split from Jonathan Davino (pictured with the star in Paris in July 2023), Sydney’s brother seemed to be an uncontroversial choice of date
By comparison, when Sweeney was photographed with her Anyone But You co-star and friend, Glen Powell, in March, there was an immediate torrent of headlines speculating that they may be in a romantic relationship.
Sweeney has spoken openly about her love for her brother, who tends to live his life outside of the public eye and has been a source of comfort for the actress for years. When they were teens, her mother, a criminal defense lawyer, and her father, who worked in hospitality, declared bankruptcy and sold their home, forcing them to move into a Holiday Inn in Burbank, California.
‘We were sharing a one-bedroom hotel room, no kitchen, no balcony. A pull-out sofa bed, where my dad and brother slept, my mom and me in the bed,’ she recently told The Times.
‘My brother and I tried to make the best of it – we would joke around and say we were in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,’ she continued. ‘We’d run around the different hallways and find stairwells and make friends with all the staff and they would make us grilled cheese.’
And Sweeney isn’t the only celebrity who has opted to lean on siblings, not romantic partners, during tough times – or glamorous, high-profile outings.
In recent weeks, a slew of A-listers have been spotted out and about with their siblings in lieu of a date.
When Sweeney was photographed with her Anyone But You co-star and friend, Glen Powell, in March, there was an immediate torrent of headlines speculating that they may be in a romantic relationship (Powell and Sweeney are pictured in December 2023 at their film premiere)
Sweeney has spoken openly about her love for her brother, Trent (pictured with her) who tends to live his life outside of the public eye and has been a source of comfort for the actress
Taylor Swift and Dakota Johnson, both 35, brought their brothers to dinner on May 30 at Via Carota in New York.
While it may not have been a glitzy red carpet, any public outing with Swift is a spectacle in and of itself – and both Swift’s film producer brother Austin, 33, and Johnson’s brother, actor and musician Jesse, 42, dressed the part in smart suits.
They looked thrilled to be sharing the spotlight with their glamorous sisters, and for Swift and Johnson, the outing sans dates no doubt offered a reprieve from the constant buzz about their dating life.
Indeed, in recent weeks, Swift’s romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has been under intense scrutiny, as fans speculate on a secret marriage or even pregnancy.
Bringing her brother to dinner may have been an easy way for her to avoid adding to the rumor mill.
The same is true for Johnson, who reportedly just split from her boyfriend of eight years, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, 48, last week. Sources told the New York Post that Johnson was tired of Martin dragging his feet over getting married, and an insider claimed they ‘broke up over Chris Martin not wanting to have more kids’.
Amid the news of the split, Johnson revealed her one telling criteria for any potential future partner, telling Today’s Craig Melvin this week that any love interest should just be ‘not an a*****e.’
Before the breakup went public, her brother may have been an easier choice as her date for dinner with Swift.
And other Hollywood stars have followed suit with their siblings.
Billie Eilish, 23, is perhaps the most well-known superstar who regularly walks red carpets with her sibling, 27-year-old musician Finneas.
The pair, who collaborate together creatively on Billie’s projects, have appeared together at the Grammys for the last two years, the 2023 Met Gala and, in 2022, they appeared on the Oscars carpet with their mother, Maggie, who watched on proudly as they won an award for their song No Time to Die for the James Bond film of the same name.
Taylor Swift, 35, and Dakota Johnson, 33, brought their brothers to dinner on May 30 at Via Carota in New York. (Pictured: Swift heading to Via Carota on May 30).
Any public outing with Swift is a spectacle in and of itself – and both Swift’s film producer brother Austin, 33, and Johnson’s brother, actor and musician Jesse, 41, dressed for the part in smart suits. (Johnson is pictured with her brother Jesse in the background).
Billie Eilish, 23, is perhaps the most well-known superstar who regularly walks red carpets with her sibling, 27-year-old musician Finneas.
Actress Mikey Madison, 25, has also made public appearances with her sibling in tow. She brought her twin brother Miles to the Oscars on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre, where he watched her bring home the prize for Best Actress for her role in Anora.
She thanked him in her acceptance speech, praising him as ‘her best friend.’ The win was made even sweeter by the fact that he had bed money on her being nominated, she told People at the time.
Miles was back in the spotlight a few weeks later, when he tagged along to Saturday Night Live when Mikey was the guest host – and he even earned a shoutout in her opening monologue.
‘I’ve always been really close with all my siblings, and, actually, my twin brother is here to support me,’ she quipped. ‘Let’s see if you can guess which one of these guys is my twin brother? If you guessed the one who looks like Ron Weasley on testosterone, you win!’