Gigi Paris On Leaving Glen Powell Amid Sydney Sweeney Affair Rumors: “I Just Wanted Respect”

Anyone But You was one of the most talked-about rom-coms in recent memory – but in all honesty, no one really remembers the movie. What everyone recalls was the insane on-screen (and real-life) chemistry of Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney.

The co-stars claim they leaned hard into the promotion with flirty interviews, behind-the-scenes skinship, and IG selfies. Their posts had people convinced they were work spouses, and the movie’s hype skyrocketed. But behind the scenes, someone else was watching all of this unfold in real time right alongside the rest of us – a stunning model named Gigi Paris, Powell’s girlfriend of three years.

Gigi Paris Breaks Her Silence

When Powell and Sweeney were busy fueling speculation during the Anyone But You press tour, Paris came to the realization that the man she loved might not respect her enough to speak up.

More than two years after their breakup, Paris finally shared her side of the story on the Too Much podcast. According to Paris, things had been unraveling for a while, but the turning point came with one phone call from Powell. She had been planning to fly to Australia for a work trip and to see him, who was filming with Sweeney at the time. Just before her trip, however, she says he called and said, “The producers and I have discussed that I think it’s best that you don’t come to visit.” Mind you, Sweeney was an executive producer on the film.

“That’s when I hung up. And I was like, this motherf*cker is done to me,” she said about her ex. “I think that’s where I just also fell out of love … I was like, where the f*ck are your balls … to stand up for yourself?”

Despite the phone call, she went anyway – to end things face-to-face. “I went anyways just to look him in the eye and break up with him,” she said. “It was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do.”

Paris said she wasn’t allowed anywhere near the production. “There was a rule, like, I was not allowed near set. I was not allowed anywhere near production. It was very bizarre,” she said.

She explained that by then, the online speculation had gotten unbearable. Fans were already dissecting Powell and Sweeney’s chemistry, and Paris knew she had two choices. Either she’d stay quiet and look complicit or walk away.

“I had two options. I could either pretend like I was going along with everything and have everyone wonder, like, 'Are they hooking up? Are they not hooking up? Is she okay with this? What the f*ck?' Or stand up for myself and say, 'No, I'm actually not okay with this, and I'm walking away.' So that's what I decided to do … I was shattered.”

Paris was disappointed because she expected more from someone she'd spent years with.

“I just wanted respect, especially if it’s gonna be public,” she said. “Like, don’t make an ass out of me. Like, just don’t make a fool out of someone you’ve been with for over three years talking about forever with.”

What made things worse was the silence, and Paris said Powell never tried to shut the rumors down.  “Where are you when you just need to stand up and say, 'No, I would never cheat on my girlfriend. I wouldn't do that.' That's all that needed to be said. And that wasn't said … Never once,” she explained.

Looking back, Paris believes the speculation around Powell and Sweeney “was serving them for their PR.”

“Later on, it turned out that it was all, I don't know if there was a relationship there or not, but then they came out to say it was all a PR scheme at the expense of our relationship. Like, it was just crazy.”

She added, “Just to sell a movie or not, who knows? And I honestly hoped that they’d end up together, because I was like, at least it would make it worth it for me, you know? I hope they are in love or whatnot.”

Even now, she says she doesn’t have all the answers. “I have heard so many different sides of the story. I have no confirmation of what actually happened. I just know what my standards are. And for me, it just wasn't okay the way it was handled, period.”

“Like I said, like, I hope that if they're meant to be, that they're meant to be. It's really none of my business anymore. Like, that's what I really wanted the end to be, is to just to walk away from that, because it's a f*cking circus,” she said. “Like, the way that they handle things for headlines or whatnot, like, I don't live that way. So you do you. It's none of my business anymore.”

Paris handled the ordeal with grace. Being in a relationship with a leading man would be difficult for most women. But that's not what this was. It went from "on-screen romantic leads with great chemistry" to fueling off-screen rumors to help boost the film's publicity. According to a source, Paris wanted them all to be friends. She had no problem with Powell getting physical with Sweeney on screen, that was part of the job. But reading between the lines, the producers (which include Sweeney) didn't want Paris around because her presence risked disrupting the "sexual chemistry" of Sweeney and Powell. Paris never got a public apology, but she didn't wait for one. She chose to respect herself and walk away. 

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