Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney certainly didn’t feel euphoric after her American Eagle jeans ad campaign landed her in controversy this summer.
“I was honestly surprised by the reaction,” Sweeney told People in a new interview. “I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand. I don’t support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”
In ads released this summer, American Eagle had Sweeney discussing genetics before a voiceover declared that the actor has “great jeans,” playing on the words “genes” and “jeans” being homophones. Some social media users thought the brand’s praise of blond-haired, blue-eyed Sweeney’s genes/jeans carried implications of white supremacy.
Sweeney gave a non-answer about the controversy in September, telling Vanity Fair she was going to the Toronto International Film Festival to promote her film Christy and not “to talk about jeans.”
Then, in a GQ interview this November, she turned down her interviewer’s invitation to address the AE ad campaign’s perceived suggestions of genetic superiority. “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” she said.
In the People interview, Sweeney asserted she’s all “always trying to bring people together” and is “against hate and divisiveness.”
She added, “In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
Sweeney is currently promoting her and Amanda Seyfried’s new psychological thriller, The Housemaid, due for release in U.S. theaters on December 19. After disappointing box office numbers for her films Americana, Eden, and Christy this year, media observers will no doubt be seeing how her recent bad press will affect The Housemaid’s performance.
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