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Sydney Sweeney has finally addressed the controversy surrounding her recent American Eagle “good genes” campaign, offering a succinct response to her critics. The 27-year-old actress found herself in the hot seat in June after some viewers found the ad’s wordplay between “good jeans” and “good genes” to have “eugenics-like” undertones.
While American Eagle issued a statement defending the campaign-“Her jeans. Her story.
We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way”-the ad also garnered unwanted support from various controversial groups, including a billboard from the Proud Boys proclaiming, “Proud Boys love Sydney Sweeney. She has the best blue genes.”
Sweeney largely remained silent in the immediate aftermath, focusing on promoting her work, including her new film “Christy.” However, the “Euphoria” star has now broken her silence in recent interviews.
Speaking with The Guardian, Sweeney clarified her stance on public perception. “I’m always just me,” she stated when asked about the negativity.
“I think what’s interesting is I’m always myself. I’m always just me.
But it’s what other people put on me that’s uncontrollable. Like you’re going to write this article… Then people will read it and have their own perception.
So I try and be as much of me as possible, but it’s always through other people’s lenses.”
In an interview with GQ, Sweeney further elaborated on the unexpected backlash. “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.”
She also touched upon former President Trump’s comments about the ad, which she learned about while filming “Euphoria,” describing the experience as “surreal.” “It was surreal… It’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that.
Or like, of any of it. I kind of just put my phone away,” Sweeney explained.
“I was filming every day. I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days.
I don’t really bring my phone on set, so I work and then go home, where I go to sleep. So I didn’t really see a lot of it.”
Social media users have largely come to Sweeney’s defense following her interviews. One commenter wrote, “People hate her because she’s not going to kowtow in fear of something that no one who is truly serious is mad about.
She’s going to keep living her life, and she doesn’t have to speak in something because you demand it.” Another added, “She doesn’t have an issue with feeling genetically superior.
After that, what can a layperson add to the conversation? How could you possibly hate her for that?”
A third user concluded, “They really think Sydney Sweeney is our issue with that ad. Smh.”