Remember when the president deemed it necessary to tell the world he was a big fan of a jeans ad? Yep, August 2025 was a strange era for advertising, with Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad provoking controversy for its supposed promoting of eugenics. The whole thing was all anyone could talk about for a moment back there – but now, for the first time, Sydney Sweeney herself is talking about it.
In a video interview with GQ, Sweeney addressed the controversy, and the response of Donald Trump. Well, addressed is a strong word – while GQ’s Katherine Stoeffel attempts to engage Sweeney on whether “white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority”, the actress refuses to apologise.
Sydney Sweeney on Life at the Center of the Conversation – YouTube
“I did a jean ad. 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,” says Sweeney, while not wearing jeans. Otherwise, it’s a whole lot of deflection. “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” Sweeney says when asked if she’d like to talk about the backlash. And when asked whether as a result of appearing in an ad, there’s a risk that “somebody will get some idea about what you think about a certain issue,” she simply replies, “No.”
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Sweeney’s reaction has, predictably, drawn a mixed reaction. “The red carpet was rolled out for her as generously and explicitly as possible to address the criticisms, and specifically accusations of racism, and she tripled down,” one Redditor complains, while another adds, “Sydney tries to come off like she is bigger than the online chatter going on, but unfortunately she comes off as privileged and wilfully ignorant.”
(Image credit: Future)
And actress Aimee Lou Wood went even further, posting a vomiting emoji under a clip of the interview on Instagram (above).
So there we have it. Just when we thought the dust had settled on the most talk about ad controversy of the year, the whole sorry situation has reared its head again. It’s surely only a matter of time until we find out what Trump thinks of Sweeney’s latest comments.