Sydney Sweeney claps back at critics over silence on controversial jeans ad

Sydney Sweeney has finally addressed one of the year’s biggest pop culture controversies her American Eagle jeans advertisement that flew into a national debate and even drew comments from President Donald Trump.

The campaign, which used the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” was slammed for allegedly implying eugenics and promoting white supremacy through a play on words between “jeans” and “genes,” alongside featuring the blonde haired and blue eyed actress.

The backlash increased after reports surfaced claiming Sweeney registered as a Republican in 2024.

Trump later commented, “She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad! You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans … If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!”

After months of silence, Sweeney has now clapped back in a new GQ interview, saying, “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.”

The Housemaid star added, “I know that I’m a kind person. I know that I love a lot and I know that I’m just excited to see what happens next. And so I don’t really let other people define who I am.”

While emphasising her love for jeans, she added the controversy “didn’t affect me one way or the other.”

Calling the situation “surreal” given that both the President and Vice President JD Vance considered in, explained Sydney Sweeney stayed separate from the drama, “I was filming every day… I don’t really bring my phone on set… so I didn’t really see a lot of it.”