Sydney Sweeney has issued her first public comments on the controversy surrounding her American Eagle campaign, and the reaction online has once again placed her at the center of a culture war considered by some as “exhausting.”
In a December 5 interview with People Magazine, the 28-year-old actress addressed the backlash to the ad, which playfully swapped “genes” for “jeans” in the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has good genes.”
What the brand intended as a simple pun turned into a nationwide debate about race, privilege, beauty standards and political identity.
“I was honestly surprised by the reaction,” Sweeney said. “I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand. I don’t support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”
The post sharing her statement quickly shot past sixteen million views.
Sidney Sweeney broke her silence concerning the much-debated American Eagle “Good Jeans” campaign
Image credits: American Eagle
“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness,” she said.
“In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it.
So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
Image credits: American Eagle
For many users, Sweeney’s words read as a belated attempt to address what they insist was a racially loaded and exclusionary campaign.
“Too late boo,” one viral post with three and a half million views read.
Others went after the people fueling the backlash, arguing they were simply looking for an excuse to attack the actress and vent about their personal issues.
“They were literally just jeans,” one user wrote. “People have been finding a way to cancel her for a long time and they really tried to use her wearing jeans to do it.”
Image credits: American Eagle
Another joked, “Sydney Sweeney: ‘I just liked the jeans.’ Internet: ‘So anyway, here’s a conspiracy theory.’ Bro she can’t even wear denim without triggering a lore dump.”
A third added, “This diva did nothing but be hired for an ad and got all the heat for it instead of the company that directed it and gave it the green light.”
Sweeney’s words came days after she attended Jimmy Fallon wearing a red dress and a blonde bob
The People interview arrived only days after another wave of controversy hit the actress. The moment she stepped onto The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon wearing a crimson dress and a clean blonde bob, critics online began calling the look a “MAGA makeover.”
Influencer Blakely Thornton claimed the gown and hairstyle channeled conservative symbolism. He also mocked Sweeney’s team before sneering at her hair, calling them “self-hating gays.”
The criticism spiraled until Sweeney’s longtime hairstylist, Glen Oropeza, publicly fired back.
“You can’t get my girl’s name out of your mouth,” Oropeza wrote. “You’re obsessed.”
Image credits: Instagram/melissa.hernandez
Thornton had targeted Sweeney for months. In September, he even mocked her birthday party with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, claiming it “looked like the third circle of hell.”
Yet the idea that Sweeney’s Fallon look was coded political messaging collapsed almost immediately. The red gown and structured bob resembled outfits long embraced by women across the political spectrum.
Image credits: utopicposts
Image credits: American Eagle
Michelle Obama repeatedly wore similar silhouettes during her time in the White House. Melania Trump favored red evening gowns throughout her tenure. Hillary Clinton built a large part of her public aesthetic around deep red formalwear.
“I don’t know why they pick on this girl,” one viewer wrote. “I think she looks great.”
A New Yorker writer who had publicly criticized Sweeney said she was “filled with hate” toward White people
Image credits: Gideonofthenew
The conversation about Sweeney’s personal politics intensified after her American Eagle campaign became the target of a blistering New Yorker piece written by Doreen St. Félix.
The writer described Sweeney as an “Aryan princess” and claimed the jeans campaign was encoded with “racial and intimate implications.”
She wrote, “Genes, referring to Sweeney’s famously large breasts; genes, referring to her whiteness.” She also argued that the ad presented “Americana as a zombie slop of mustangs, denim, and good genes.”
The piece went viral and divided audiences. Some agreed that the campaign was tone deaf and excluded other races and body types. Others said the article read like an unhinged attack on a woman who had done nothing but model jeans.
Within hours, old tweets from St. Félix resurfaced in which she admitted to being “filled with hate” toward White people.
Image credits: American Eagle
She wrote, “I hate white men. You all are the worst. Go nurse your Oedipal complexes and leave the earth to the browns and the women.” In another tweet she wrote, “[White people] fill me with a lot of hate.” She also blamed “white capitalism” for environmental destruction.
Image credits: X/shea_jordan
One viral account wrote, “Shocker, the author of the insane New Yorker article about Sydney Sweeney is an outright anti-white racist.”
St. Félix deleted her social media accounts shortly afterward.
Image credits: HBO
The discovery fueled claims that the backlash against Sweeney was more of a cultural hit job than a good-faith critique. Critics argued the outrage was rooted in resentment disguised as activism.
“Racism should not be tolerated by anyone no matter your skin color,” a reader wrote.
American Eagle addressed the controversy, insisting the campaign was only about the jeans
Image credits: Andreas Rentz
American Eagle tried to deescalate the situation on August 1, insisting the campaign was “always about the jeans.”
The company wrote, “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
At the time, PR specialists argued the uproar benefited the actress.
“The ads have undeniably gotten the actress, and the company, more attention and publicity than they have ever had,” said public relations expert Steve Honig. “People are talking about her, and in entertainment, that’s almost always a win.”
Image credits: Vinod_r108
Still, Sweeney appears tired of serving as a blank canvas for strangers projecting their ideologies. Her comments to People mark the first time she has directly addressed the tension.
“Propaganda.” The debate is just as alive now as it was the day the campaign premiered
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