While Sydney Sweeney has been acting since she was a teen, it feels like she’s been one of the biggest cultural figures online for the past three years or so. That rise in social media chatter has been good for her across the board – she’s a producer now, and she’s getting tons of projects financed; she’s getting tons of scripts and doing varied work; and she’s in demand for lots of sponsorships and ad campaigns. Years ago, she gave an interview where she spoke about her finances and how she was basically able to buy her first house because of her Miu Miu brand ambassadorship. She’s also done ad campaigns for Kérastase, Jimmy Choo, Armani Beauty, Laneige, Samsung, Dr. Squatch and more. But her American Eagle collab is the one getting the most attention right now.
As we discussed earlier this week, Sydney’s America Eagle commercials are very heavy on “eugenics.” The tagline is “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” and there was one commercial (which has since been taken down) where 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.” It’s heavily implied that Sydney’s “great genes” are blond hair, blue eyes and pure Aryan white skin. Well, it’s been a major discussion throughout the week, because everything Sydney does at this point makes news. Did I also mention that right-wingers have been trying to make Sydney’s hotness into some kind of culture war? Incels, misogynists and Republicans argue that Democrats want to do away with “blondes with huge cans.” Add to that, Sydney’s family seems pretty Republican, although Sydney has never indicated her own political leanings in any interview. All of which to say, the Trump White House has now gotten involved in the American Eagle discourse, because a blonde with huge cans needed rescuing.
The White House is weighing in on the controversial American Eagle jeans advertisement featuring Sydney Sweeney. White House communications manager Steven Cheung slammed the Left for its response to the ad, which reads “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” The spot plays on “great genes,” which caused some liberal voices to denounce the campaign for glorifying her white heritage and thin physique.
“Cancel culture run amok,” Cheung wrote of the ad on X. “This warped, moronic and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bullsh-t.”
In the commercial, Sweeney says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Conservative TV personality Megyn Kelly also called out the “lunatics on the Left” for their take-down of the ad, calling their reaction “absurd.”
“She’s being called a white supremacist by people who don’t like her latest ad, which is for American Eagle,” she said. “She’s advertising jeans, and yet the lunatics on the Left think she’s advertising white supremacy. This is obviously a reference to her body and not to her skin color, but the lunatic left is going to do what the lunatic left is going to do. They’re upset because it’s about who gets to be the face of America’s Best Genes. They think it’s no accident that they’ve chosen a white, thin woman because you’re, I guess, not allowed to celebrate those things in any way, shape, or form. But they’re completely ignoring the reference to her body, which is the thing she’s famous for. It’s just absurd.”
Holy crap, that Megyn Kelly quote!! “They’re upset because it’s about who gets to be the face of America’s Best Genes. They think it’s no accident that they’ve chosen a white, thin woman because you’re, I guess, not allowed to celebrate those things in any way, shape, or form.” Brought to you from the same woman who argued that Santa is white. Anyway, the Trump administration’s ears perked up when they heard “eugenics” and dumpy, demented Donald Trump is about one day away from ranting about HIS great genes too. Sydney needs to wrap this up. She probably won’t though – the controversy is amazing for American Eagle, and she’ll probably just shrug and say “they’re just jeans.”
Screengrabs from AE commercial.
