Don't ask Sydney Sweeney at TIFF about American Eagle controversy

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If you see Sydney Sweeney around Toronto this weekend, don’t ask her about her recent American Eagle ad campaign, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.”

Sweeney, who is town to promote her boxing biopic Christy at the Toronto International Film Festival, said she won’t be addressing any of the controversy over the advertisements.

“I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it,” Sweeney told Vanity Fair before touching down in the city. “I’m not there to talk about jeans … The movie’s about Christy (Martin), and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”

The film, which premieres Friday, chronicles pioneering female boxer Christy Martin’s rise as she became America’s most well-known female boxer in the 1990s. 

“I was blown away that her story wasn’t more known on a universal, global level because it’s just one of the most harrowing and inspiring women that I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Sweeney told the outlet.

When the AE ad campaign launched earlier this summer, some people on social media lashed out at the adverts, accusing the company’s tagline of saying “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” as encouraging her racial superiority and likening the promotion to “Nazi propaganda.”

In one of the American Eagle spots, Sweeney says “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” then turns to the camera and adds, “My jeans are blue.” 

Print ads show the denim-clad actress alongside the slogan, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes,” before the last word is crossed out and replaced with “Jeans.”

“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” American Eagle said, defending itself amid uproar. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

U.S. President Donald Trump also fired back at critics for trying to ignite a “woke” political debate around the ad.

“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month.

He also took aim at companies Budweiser and Jaguar for trying to undergo “woke” rebrands, and Taylor Swift, who criticized Trump during last year’s U.S. election and urged her followers to vote for his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

“Just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift,” his post continued, per USA Today. “Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!). She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT. The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.”

After reports started to surface that Sweeney is a registered Republican, Trump ramped up his praise for the Euphoria and White Lotus star.

“She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad!” Trump told reporters while boarding Air Force One in Allentown, Penn. recently. “Is that right, is Sydney Sweeney…? You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans. That’s what I wouldn’t have known. But I’m glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!”

The White House also sounded off on the marketing calling the online outrage “cancel culture run amok.”

“This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bulls***,” White House communications director Steven Cheung wrote on X.

But all the controversy has proven to be a hit for the brand. Shares of American Eagle spiked 34% this week after the teen clothing retailer said the frenzy surrounding its Sweeney campaign drew new customers during its most recent quarter.

“We saw a record-breaking new customer acquisition and brand awareness cutting across age, demographics and genders,” said CEO Jay Schottenstein.

mdaniell@postmedia.com