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Sydney herself previously declined to address the criticism. Sydney Sweeney sparked controversy in July after starring in an American Eagle campaign with the tagline "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans." The campaign included a video of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor playing on the words of the campaign as she told the camera: "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color." She then added, "My jeans are blue." The campaign drew widespread criticism from viewers who felt the ads glorified whiteness and promoted eugenics, prompting backlash against Sydney and American Eagle. At the time, the brand defended itself, saying the campaign "is and always was about the jeans," while Sydney declined to comment, telling Vanity Fair she preferred to focus on her then-upcoming sports drama Christy. But now, her Euphoria co-star Sharon Stone has shared what Sydney reportedly said behind the scenes. Sharon recalled Sydney's alleged reaction while offering advice to Sydney during the height of the controversy. She told Variety, "I had a really interesting talk with her one day at work. I was talking to her about the reaction that happened to her jean campaign, and I was saying — because I was co-godparents with Jane Goodall — and I said, you know, when Jane was on the cover of Life magazine for her work with gorillas, she was in her safari shorts and a shirt, sitting with one of the animals that she was working with, and other scientists said, 'Well, she only got the cover of Life magazine because she had good legs.' And Jane said, 'Well, if I did, then that helped me get more money for my research." She added, "And Sydney said, 'Yeah, and I'm sure I made a billion dollars for the jean company, and I'm good with that 'cause you know what? I'll get another job." Sharon went on to defend Sydney over the ad, saying, "It's okay to use what mama gave you. It's really fine. It's hard to be hot, and I think we all know that. It’s really okay to use every bit of hotness you have — right here, right now — and go for whatever that is." She continued, "Everybody has their own certain kind of hotness, their own certain thing, and you're supposed to go for that. Because who are you not to be beautiful? You know, who you are isn't an accident." Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
