Sweeney’s parents Lisa and Steven Sweeney prefer to stay away from the limelight, but they’ve been criticised publicly after Sweeney’s younger brother Trent posted a series of images on his Instagram of Lisa’s 60th birthday bash inspired in part by a twist on Donald Trump’s highly-controversial presidential campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”.

So who are Lisa and Steven Sweeney, and are they really the “white supremacists” that many critics are making them out to be?

Here’s what we know.

1. Lisa and Steven Sweeney’s careers

Sweeney was born in Spokane, Washington, to parents Lisa Sweeney (née Mudd) and Steven Sweeney.

According to Briefly, Lisa is a former criminal defence lawyer in Spokane, and attended the city’s Gonzaga University School of Law. She also held the position of assistant attorney general for Washington state.

In an interview with Variety, Sweeney revealed that her mother had a tough childhood and had to work five jobs to put herself through school.

Her father Steven works in the medical field but little is known about the specifics of his career.

2. Sydney has a younger brother, Trent

Lisa and Steven have two children together: Sydney Bernice Sweeney and her younger brother Trent, both raised in the former family home on the Washington-Idaho border.

While Sweeney has established herself as an actress, Trent also hopes to make it as an actor. According to his IMBD page, Trent has had a few minor roles in films and also dabbles in directing.

In the interview with Variety, Sydney said that after having her second child, Lisa left her career in law to stay at home as she “could not come home to two little babies and be mentally OK”.

3. Lisa and Steven weren’t initially on board with her career goals

According to Sweeney, her parents weren’t ecstatic about her dream of making it big in Hollywood.

“My parents thought I was wanting to be a princess, that it wasn’t real. You couldn’t touch it. I was from a smaller town,” the star told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show in 2022.

To change their mind, at age 11, the actress put together a slide show containing a well-researched and mapped out five-year career timeline.

The PowerPoint worked, and although it took a little longer than five years, Sweeney is now one of the most recognisable faces in Hollywood.

4. Lisa and Steven filed for bankruptcy and divorce

Lisa and Steven reportedly went bankrupt while supporting their daughter’s budding acting career.

While she was doing acting auditions and taking smaller roles, the family would often fly between Spokane and Los Angeles.

The family ultimately moved to Los Angeles, but before long, the Sweeneys were forced to file for bankruptcy, sell their home and move into a motel, after her dad lost his job.

Lisa and Steven eventually got a divorce as Sweeney’s career began to take off.

The actress has admitted in interviews that she still blames herself. “They always say, ‘It wasn’t your fault’. It was,” she told British press in a March 2023 interview.

5. Lisa’s “Maga” birthday bash

For her mum’s 60th birthday last year, Sweeney threw a surprise hoedown-themed party in Idaho.

Both the actress and her younger brother shared photos on their respective Instagram accounts. Unfortunately for Sweeney, eagle-eyed followers were quick to notice a relative sporting a “Blue Lives Matter” T-shirt in one since-deleted photo. Her younger brother Trent’s shared photos were also incriminating as they showed guests wearing parody Maga hats, printed with: “Make Sixty Great Again”.

The event caused major backlash on social media and Sweeney took to X, formerly Twitter, to address the criticism herself.

“The people who brought the things that people were upset about were actually my mum’s friends from LA who have kids that are walking outside in the Pride parade, and they thought it would be funny to wear because they were coming to Idaho,” explained Sweeney, in the interview with Variety.

Despite Sweeney’s strong and repeated denials, many weren’t convinced and have continued to throw accusations, calling Lisa and Steven “white supremacists”.

A New York Times bestselling author Frederick Joseph felt strongly enough to dig up more images from Lisa’s birthday and do background research on family members.