Christy Martin Defends Sydney Sweeney After Ruby Rose Slammed Biopic Casting

The real Christy Martin is coming to Sydney Sweeney's defense after Ruby Rose claimed Sweeney "ruined" a biopic about the boxing icon.

"I've always been a fighter. My life reflected that in every way and now I fight for others," Martin, 57, wrote alongside a photo of her and Sweeney, 28, on the set of Christy posted to Instagram on Wednesday, November 12.

"The past few days, I have seen some people attack my friend Sydney Sweeney. Syd not only worked her ass off for this film, she worked her ass off for me. For my story. For so many others suffering in silence," Martin continued. "So I want to be clear about who Syd is. She is my friend and ally!"

Australian actress Rose, 39, slammed Sweeney's casting as openly lesbian Martin in a Threads post on Tuesday, November 11, revealing that she missed out on the part.

"The original Christy Martin script was incredible. Life changing. I was attached to play [Christy]. Everyone had experience with the core material. Most of us were actually gay. It's part of why I stayed in acting. Losing roles happens all the time," Rose wrote.

She continued, "For her PR to talk about it flopping and saying SS did it for the ‘people'."

"None of ‘the people' want to see someone who hates them, parading around pretending to be us," Rose wrote, insinuating that Sweeney doesn't support the LGBTQIA+ community. "You're a cretin and you ruined the film. Period. Christy deserved better."

Us Weekly previously reached out to Sweeney's representative for comment, but did not immediately hear back.

Christy, directed by David Michôd, underperformed at the box office upon its release on Friday, November 7. The biopic earned $1.3 million from 2,011 theaters in its opening weekend, making it "one of the worst starts ever for a movie that was released in more than 2,000 North American theaters," reports Variety.

Despite the film's poor box office performance, Sweeney stood by the sports drama in an Instagram post on Monday, November 10, insisting she is "so deeply proud of this movie."

"Proud of the film David made. Proud of the story we told. Proud to represent someone as strong and resilient as Christy Martin. This experience has been one of the greatest honors of my life," the Euphoria actress wrote.

"This film stands for survival, courage, and hope. Through our campaigns, we've helped raise awareness for so many affected by domestic violence. We all signed on to this film with the belief that Christy's story could save lives," Sweeney continued.

"Thank you to everyone who saw, felt, and believed and will believe in this story for years to come. If Christy gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded. So yes, I'm proud. Why? Because we don't always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact," she added. "And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life. Thank you, Christy. I love you."

In an exclusive interview with Us recently, Martin said she found it difficult to watch parts of her life recreated onscreen.

"It's crazy, the first time I watched it, it was just me and Lisa [Holewyne, her wife], and I don't even remember seeing some of the scenes," she said. "When I watched it, when I truly, truly watched it, was in Toronto. And I asked Lisa, I'm like, ‘That scene wasn't in it when we saw it.' She said, ‘Yes, it was. Your mind, your brain just shut it down for you because you weren't ready to see it yet.' It was hard. It's a lot. I mean, this is somebody [who] tried to kill me and left me for dead, and to see that played out is tough."

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This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 4:19 AM.