Copyright Newsweek
Sydney Sweeney has addressed the fallout over her American Eagle denim campaign, an advert which sparked one of the year’s biggest online culture wars. Her response has faced backlash online, with some commentators also praising her. Newsweek has contacted a representative for Sweeney outside of regular working hours via email for comment. Both Sweeney and American Eagle came under fire after the actress appeared in an ad campaign for the brand, which had the tagline, "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans." This line prompted backlash online and sparked discourse about racism and eugenics. Sweeney was interviewed by Katherine Stoeffel for GQ, and in addition to the print interview, there are video clips online. In one, Stoeffel asks Sweeney, “The criticism of the content, which is that maybe, specifically in this political climate, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority, like that was kind of the criticism, broadly speaking, and since you are talking about this I just wanted to give you the opportunity to talk about that, specifically.” Sweeney said in response, “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.” This response has sparked backlash online, including from the actress Aimee Lou Wood, who commented on a video of Sweeney’s interview with a vomit emoji. This is a developing story. More to follow.
