As you’ve probably seen, Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle have been copping a lot of backlash over their new denim ads.
American Eagle / Via x.com
The new jeans campaign has been hit with complaints about everything from Sydney’s hypersexualization to the tone of her voice. However, it’s fair to say that the biggest talking point has been around the perceived racial undertones and links to eugenics.
American Eagle / Via x.com
For context, the tagline of the campaign is “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” and, as is explicitly pointed out, the whole thing is a play on Sydney’s “great genes.” Some people have taken issue with the glorification of Sydney’s genetics as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white woman, accusing AE of promoting eugenics and “white supremacy.”
One of the clips that received the most backlash centers on Sydney saying: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” This video has seemingly been pulled from AE’s social pages.
Especially in the current political climate, being accused of promoting whiteness is not a great look for the brand, nor for Sydney, who has previously had to address “misinterpretations” about her and her family’s political stance after people on her Instagram page were seen wearing MAGA-style hats.
Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images
It’s worth mentioning that Sydney has remained publicly apolitical amid conversations about her family’s political beliefs.
Now, as the AE discourse continues to develop online, the government has weighed in on the conversation. On July 29, White House communications manager Steven Cheung took to X to share a screenshot of an MSNBC headline suggesting that the AE ad is indicative of an “unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness.” Slamming “dense liberal thinking,” Cheung called the reaction: “Cancel culture run amok.”
Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images / x.com
“This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024,” he wrote. “They’re tired of this bullshit.”
As you can imagine, the White House’s response has only fueled conversations about Sydney and the divisive campaign. The latest reactions online are pretty intense, with people highlighting that it hasn’t exactly made the situation any better, and it’s also not a good look for Sydney to have the Trump administration aligning itself with her.
@TomZohar / HBO / Via x.com
Related: 18 Times Celebs Called Out Other Celebs Over Wealth And Greed
@hamiltonistas / F1TV / Via x.com
@notsotroubled / Via x.com
Meanwhile, others expressed confusion and disbelief that the White House even took the time to address the discourse, asking, “do you not have a country to run?”
@LingoUnbound / Via x.com
Related: 21 Celebrities Who Ruined Their Own Careers
Neither Sydney nor AE has publicly addressed the backlash, but has this made things worse? LMK your thoughts in the comments.
Also in Celebrity: Would You Cast A Live-Action “Frozen” The Same Way As Everyone Else?
Also in Celebrity: 21 Celebrity Secrets Spilled By The Celebs Themselves — Completely By Accident
Also in Celebrity: This ’90s Icon Is Headed For Divorce After 21 Years Of Marriage