Sydney Sweeney has said she should have spoken out about the controversy surrounding her American Eagle jeans advert, which critics accused of flirting with eugenics. The actor told People magazine that staying silent had “widened the divide” between people.
The “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” campaign launched in the summer and was a major success for the brand, boosting its stock by 30% and making it the most popular jean for 15-to-25-year-olds. However, the use of a blond-haired, blue-eyed model was criticised as carrying undertones of white supremacy, with some social media users comparing it to Nazi propaganda.
Former US president Donald Trump called the advert the “hottest ad out there”, while Forbes argued that the brand should “reconsider” the campaign. American Eagle store visits were 9% down by the end of the summer, according to the magazine.
Sweeney said she was “surprised by the reaction” and that she did not support the views people attached to the campaign. “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together,” she added.
The Euphoria star is considered an outside bet for an Oscar for her lead role in the upcoming biopic Christy, about boxer Christy Martin. She has previously described Trump’s intervention as “surreal”.
