I’m sure you know by now that Sydney Sweeney has been at the center of controversy since July, with the star’s American Eagle campaign sparking backlash.
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In case you somehow managed to miss it, the campaign ran with the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” an obvious pun on “great genes.” One of the commercials also focused on Sydney’s blonde hair and blue eyes as she said: “Genes are passed down from parent to offspring, often determining traits like eye color, personality, and even hair color. My jeans are blue.”
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Pretty much instantly, the campaign was accused of implicitly glorifying whiteness and promoting eugenics, which was heavily criticized online. The White House also added fuel to the fire when they spoke out in defense of the ad, with President Donald Trump even heaping praise on Sydney after BuzzFeed confirmed that she officially registered as a Republican last year.
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The whole saga eventually died down, but the discourse has erupted again over the last week or so after Sydney broke her silence on the backlash in an interview with GQ. Here, she downplayed the whole situation and refused to comment on the interpretation that the ad was about eugenics. She dismissively told the publication: “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.”
GQ
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“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,” Sydney added elsewhere in the interview.
And when she was explicitly asked if she’d like to address the specific criticism that “white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority” in the current political climate, Sydney said: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
GQ
Needless to say, the quotes did not go down well, and when video footage of the interview emerged online, Sydney faced even more backlash as people called out her demeanor when she answered the questions. Sydney could be seen pulling faces and laughing, and even rolled her eyes at the question about “genetic superiority.”
GQ
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The whole thing has seen Sydney be scrutinized online, and last week, fellow actor Aimee Lou Wood appeared to make her own feelings clear when she purportedly commented a vomiting emoji on an Instagram post about the situation.
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And now, more celebrities have disclosed their stance on Sydney’s recent antics, with a bunch liking a recent post by content creator Jupiter Baal. In the Instagram video, Jupiter plays a clip from the GQ interview before telling viewers: “She was given an opportunity to push back, she didn’t, therefore she’s in on it.”
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“She’s not naive and she’s not stupid,” he went on, before going on to a deeper analysis of Sydney’s actions in relation to the far-right. He added in the post’s caption: “#sidneysweeney isn’t innocent. She is a willing participant on the in joke of #eugenics at a time in which the #farright is thriving on that propaganda.”
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“But sometimes people forget that proximity to #power isn’t protection. At the end of the day, we are all on the menu,” Jupiter went on, adding the hashtags: “#payattention #badchoices #misogyny #itsthatdeep.”
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BuzzFeed can verify that this post has been liked by Aimee Lou Wood, SZA, and Christina Ricci, with Christina reiterating her agreement in the comments by writing: “100%.”
And the stars have been widely praised for publicly sharing their feelings, with one popular Reddit comment reading: “Christina Ricci, SZA, and Aimee Lou Wood have great taste! So many white women prioritize racism over their own self-preservation.”
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Somebody else wrote: “Yes! More celebs calling out other celebs pls. You love to see it.” Another added: “im glad that to see celebs who prioritize anti facism over a brand deal bc i cannot believe theres still celebs who are proudly associated w her.”
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Notably, this weekend marked Sydney’s third box office flop in four months, with her new movie, Christy, expected to make just $1.25 million on its opening weekend. It comes after her film Americana, which was released in August, made less than $500,000 at the box office despite its $9 million budget, and Eden, also released in August, earned just $2.5 million with a $35 million budget.As always, let me know your thoughts on the whole situation in the comments below!More on this
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