Source: Entertainment Weekly

Sydney Sweeney is breaking her silence on the divisive American Eagle ad campaign that put her in the middle of a national controversy.

During a conversation with GQ published on Tuesday, Sweeney initially kept things vague while addressing the blue jeans drama, telling the outlet, “I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think. I’m just here to kind of open their eyes to different ideas.”

Asked if she never feels tempted to address her controversies head-on, Sweeney replied, “I’ll vent to my girlfriends. But other than that, no. 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.”

The Euphoria star was then directly asked about the controversial campaign, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” and the firestorm that it inspired after arriving on July 23.

“I did a jean ad,” she began. “I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.”

The seemingly innocuous world-play of “good genes” vs “good jeans” struck a discordant chord with many who saw the ad and criticized it for glorifying a racial idea. It was swiftly slammed on social media for seemingly promoting eugenics by having a blonde, blue-eyed woman talking about “good genes.”

When GQ pointed to this as the root of the controversy and asked whether Sweeney wanted to address the “genetic superiority” criticism directly, she replied, “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”

Amid the controversy, several conservative public figures — including Megyn Kelly, JD Vance, and even President Donald Trump — voiced support for Sweeney, mocking others over their disdain of the campaign. Trump’s White House weighed in when communications manager Steven Cheung called the backlash a prime example of “cancel culture run amok.” This was followed by Vance mocking liberals for having such a strong reaction to the denim disaster.

During a July podcast appearance, the Vice President quipped, “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi. That appears to be their actual strategy.”

As for Trump, he was asked about the ad amid reports that Sweeney is a registered Republican. He responded, “She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad! You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans… If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!”

Sydney Sweeney at the AFI Fest 2025 Premiere of “Christy” held at the TCL Chinese Theatre on October 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California; U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a “Make America Wealthy Again” trade announcement event in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025 in Washington, DC

Sweeney told the outlet “it was surreal” to have figures like Trump and Vance weigh in on the campaign, but said she didn’t pay much attention to the overall controversy.

“I kind of just put my phone away. I was filming every day,” she explained. “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.”

Though she claims to have closed herself off to the response, Sweeney did take note of reports that American Eagle’s stock numbers were on the rise following the rollout of her campaign.

“I was aware of the numbers as it was going. So when I saw all the headlines of in-store visits were down a certain percentage, none of it was true. It was all made up, but nobody could say anything because [the company was] in their quiet period,” she said. “So it was all just a lot of talk. And because I knew at the end of the day what that ad was for, and it was great jeans, it didn’t affect me one way or the other.”

Sweeney is currently promoting Christy, her biopic about groundbreaking professional boxer Christy Martin, who rose to fame in the ’90s and became one of the most prominent female athletes in the sport. Asked whether she worries about the American Eagle campaign or other controversies causing people not to show up for her movies, Sweeney maintained that she would not let those kinds of reactions impact her.

She replied, “If somebody is closed off — because of something they read online — to a powerful story like Christy, then I hope that something else can open their eyes to being open to art and being open to learning, and I’m not going to be affected by that.”

On the heels of the initial wave of criticism, American Eagle released a statement defending the ad and stating, “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans, her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

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