Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on jeans ad controversy and Trump's approval
Sydney Sweeney has finally spoken out about her American Eagle jeans ad controversy that sent the internet into a frenzy earlier this year.
The actor, who is best known for her roles in Euphoria, Christy, and Anyone But You, was the subject of the controversy over an ad for the American clothing retailer, in which the tagline was that she had ‘good jeans’.
Many social media viewers took a more sinister meaning to this, pointing to the idea of someone having ‘good genes’ and her saying in the advert: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”
This led many to accuse the language of bordering upon eugenics, a controversy that eventually led to US President Donald Trump weighing in.
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Though Sweeney has not spoken about her politics publicly, she has reportedly been a registered Republican since 2024, with Trump saying: “She’s a registered Republican? Now I love her ad… If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”
Sweeney has called Trump and JD Vance responding to the controversy ‘surreal’, but stated that when it happened, she simply turned off her phone.
In a new interview with GQ Magazine, Sweeney said: “I know who I am. I know what I value. I know that I’m a kind person.
“I know that I love a lot, and I know that I’m just excited to see what happens next. And so I don’t really let other people define who I am.”
She stated she was surprised at the reaction to the advert, saying: “I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans.”
When asked about the controversy specifically, she said: “I kind of just put my phone away… I was filming every day.
"I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days and I don’t really bring my phone on set, so I work and then I go home and I go to sleep.
“So, I didn’t really see a lot of it.”
Sweeney remained tight-lipped about the specifics as to why the advert was criticised, saying when asked about it: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
The ad was heavily and widely criticised for its wording, with Shalini Shankar, an anthropology professor at Northwestern University, slamming American Eagle.
She said to CNN that the company were ‘aligning themselves with a white nationalist, MAGA-friendly identity’.
Shankar added: “I think that this is them trying to rebrand themselves for the present moment, and language is very deliberately used here.
“People don’t invoke genetics casually. It’s just, it’s very, very easy to sell denim without ever referencing it.”
Topics: Sydney Sweeney, Donald Trump, Euphoria, Social Media, Celebrity
Michael Slavin