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Two months and roughly 4,000 social media discourses ago, Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad campaign ignited a firestorm of controversy.
The situation got so out of control that even President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance felt the need to weigh in.
In fact, just about the only person who didn’t toss in her two cents was Sydney herself — but that changed today.
Sydney Sweeney says ‘great jeans’ drama was ‘surreal’
As you’re probably aware, Sydney is currently promoting her new movie Christy.
That’s why she’s been even more omnipresent than usual in recent weeks, appearing everywhere from late night shows to the World Series.
But while she’s been making the media rounds with the energy of a candidate for public office, Sydney skilfully dodged the American Eagle issue until a journalist for GQ asked her about it point-blank in an interview that came out Tuesday afternoon.
In case you forgot, critics said Sydney’s ad had racist undertones due to its central joke about the quality of her genes (the whole campaign was structured around a genes/jeans pun that was corny but probably not intended to offend anyone).
Speaking about the controversy for the first time, Sydney was mostly dismissive, but she adroitly steered clear of saying anything combative or overtly political.
“I did a jean ad. I mean, 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 said.
“The president and the vice president spoke about the jeans ad. What was that like?” GQ‘s Katherine Stoeffel asked.
“It was surreal,” Sydney replied.
When the interviewer posited that Sydney must have felt “thankful” to be defended by “very powerful people,” the actress again demurred.
“I don’t think…. It’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that, of any of it. I kind of just put my phone away. I was filming every day,” said Sydney.
“I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days, and I don’t really bring my phone on set, so I work and then I go home and I go to sleep. So I didn’t really see a lot of it.”
Sydney should probably write a book on how to comment on sensitive issues without rubbing anyone the wrong way.
This is probably what all celebrity interviews will sound like in a few years as both sides of the political spectrum continue to subject public figures to ideological purity tests.
We’re sure Sydney has her beliefs, but she’s also a 28-year-old woman who’s been rich and famous for like 10 minutes.
“I would like to continue being rich and famous” is probably chief among those beliefs.
