Sidney Sweeney has finally spoken out about the American Eagles jeans campaign that sparked a national firestorm earlier this year. Speaking to GQ magazine for a new cover story, the “Euphoria” Emmy nominee said she didn’t think to put together a formal statement explaining or defending the controversial ad during the height of the backlash because “I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think.”
“I know who I am. I know what I value. I know I’m a kind person,” Sweeney said. “I know that I love a lot and I’m just excited to see what happens next. So I don’t let other people define who I am.”
Speaking candidly about the campaign and the backlash that followed, Sweeney said, “I ran an ad for jeans. The reaction was definitely surprising, but I love jeans. Jeans are all I wear. I literally wear jeans and a T-shirt every day…At the end of the day, I see what that ad was for. And it was great jeans. It didn’t affect me either way.”
Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign centered on the tagline “Sidney Sweeney has great jeans,” a play on “great genes,” which sparked outrage online as American Eagle glorified the actor’s white heritage and slim physique. Some users on social media compared the ad to “Nazi propaganda”.
It sparked a national controversy, with communications manager Stephen Chan calling the backlash a classic example of “cancel culture gone wild,” and even President Trump’s White House weighed in. Vice President J.D. Vance then mocked liberals for stirring up hysteria over the campaign, quipping, “My political advice to Democrats is to keep saying everyone who finds Sidney Sweeney attractive is a Nazi. That seems to be their actual strategy.”
Even Donald Trump was asked about the ad, amid reports that Sweeney is also a registered Republican. The president said, “Is she a registered Republican? Oh, I love her ad! You’d be surprised how many people are Republicans…If Sidney Sweeney was a registered Republican, I think her ad would be great!”
Sweeney told GQ that it was “surreal” to see Trump and Vance go back and forth on the ad, but she didn’t pay attention to the entire controversy.
“I was just like, put my phone away,” the actor said. “I was filming every day. I’m filming ‘Euphoria,’ so I’m working 16 hours a day, but I almost never bring my cell phone on set, so I just work, then go home and sleep. So I didn’t really watch it.”
One of the stories Sweeney heard was that American Eagle’s stock price rose 38% during the controversy, to which she said, “I knew the numbers along the way. So when I saw all the headlines about foot traffic going down at a certain rate, none of it was true. It was all made up, but nobody could say anything because[the company]was in a quiet period. So it all just became a hot topic.”
Sweeney is currently promoting Christie, the acclaimed biopic about boxer Christie Martin. Sweeney shared the following note for those who choose not to see Sweeney’s film or television projects and who may use her politics or jeans ads against her. “I hope that if people are closed off because they read powerful stories like Christie’s online, something else will open their eyes and make them open to art and learning. I’m not going to be influenced by that.”
Visit GQ’s website to read Sweeney’s full cover story.
