Sydney Sweeney is finally addressing the infamous jeans ad that sparked controversy and even led President Donald Trump to chime in.
What did Sydney Sweeney say about the controversial jeans ad?
American Eagle recruited Sweeney to promote their 2025 fall campaign, which focused on their denim collection. The tagline read “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” The ad became the subject of controversy due to the pun on “jeans” and “genes.” Because of Sweeney’s blonde hair and blue eyes, many social media users, mainly on TikTok, believed the ad was promoting eugenics and white supremacy.
In a recent profile with GQ, Sweeney discussed the American Eagle campaign and her reaction to the backlash.
“I did a jean ad,” Sweeney said. “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 ad became such a hot-button topic that Trump weighed in this past August. After learning about Sweeney’s voter registration, Trump supported the ad.
“She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad,” Trump said about Sweeney via CNN.
Sweeney told GQ that the president’s reaction to the ad was “surreal.” When asked how it felt that powerful people had her back in public, Sweeney revealed work allowed her to avoid the online chatter.
“I kind of just put my phone away,” Sweeney revealed. “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.”
Despite the online controversy, American Eagle’s stock price rose by nearly 40% after the ad went public. At the time, Sweeney knew the numbers for American Eagle were going up and that much of the backlash was “just a lot of talk.”
“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 explained.
Sweeney is currently promoting Christy, an upcoming boxing biopic opening in theaters on November 7, 2025.
