Sydney Sweeney is finally addressing the bizarre backlash that erupted in response to her controversial American Eagle commercials. The clothing brand’s fall campaign, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” became a point of cultural dissension that prompted some to hurl accusations of eugenicist undertones. President Trump backed Sweeney, calling the commercial the “hottest ad out there,” and American Eagle’s share prices jumped as high as 38 percent, according to some reports.
After four months of silence, the massively in-demand actress broke her silence on the issue as part of the press runup to the wide November 7 theatrical release of Christy. When asked during an interview for her GQ cover story if she was surprised by the reaction, Sweeney coolly responded, “I did a jean ad. 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.”
Sweeney also said it was “surreal” to hear about the reactions of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who said on the Ruthless podcast, “My political advice to the Democrats is to continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi.”
When the interviewer asked if she felt grateful to have the backing of some “conveniently very powerful people,” Sweeney said, “I don’t think…. It’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that, of any of it. 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.”
She also responded to the reports of American Eagle’s surging stock price, saying, “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. 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.”
GQ also brought up an often-overlooked facet of Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign: 100 percent of the profits of the “Sydney Jean,” a limited-edition piece from the collection, benefit the Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit offering free and confidential mental health support to anyone who texts 741741. In her marquee roles in Christy and The Housemaid, Sweeney’s characters deal with domestic violence in different capacities. That’s no coincidence, as the cause is close to her heart.
“I always speak out about something that is important to me. And for me to speak out, I use art. Through my characters in my movies, it’s a way for me to be able to do my part and spread awareness in different ways through my characters. That’s how I’ve always learned to communicate, and it’s really important.”
Head to GQ‘s website for the full cover story.
