In case you missed it, Sydney Sweeney is dating Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s former manager and the man who briefly held the rights to Taylor Swift’s masters. That alone might not be headline-worthy, but the couple was recently spotted smooching on a rock in NYC’s Central Park, thanks to a well-placed paparazzi.

And people are accusing Sweeney of calling the paparazzi herself.

Social media has done to paparazzi what the internet did to snail mail, that is, it made it pretty obsolete. These days, the only letters people get are from banks trying to sell credit cards, the feared jury summons and heaps of garbage. Well, the same goes for “candid” paparazzi photos. They’re mostly either staged photo ops or thinly veiled ads for brands.

Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun were photographed making out in New York City’s Central Park on Tuesday, marking the first time the couple has been seen kissing in public. : BACKGRID pic.twitter.com/PboXvYWF1w

— Page Six (@PageSix) November 5, 2025

So when photos of Sweeney and Braun sitting on a rock started making the rounds, X was quick to call it what it was: a staged event. The only question that remains is: why?

Has Sweeney’s good-grace era ended? It appears so.