'It Gets Worse': The White House Just Weighed In On All The American Eagle Backlash, And It's Not A Good Look For Sydney Sweeney
The new jeans campaign has been hit with complaints about everything from Sydney's hypersexualization to the tone of her voice. However, it's fair to say that the biggest talking point has been around the perceived racial undertones and links to eugenics.
For context, the tagline of the campaign is 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,' and, as is explicitly pointed out, the whole thing is a play on Sydney's 'great genes.' Some people have taken issue with the glorification of Sydney's genetics as a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white woman, accusing AE of promoting eugenics and 'white supremacy.'
One of the clips that received the most backlash centers on Sydney saying: 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.' This video has seemingly been pulled from AE's social pages.
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Especially in the current political climate, being accused of promoting whiteness is not a great look for the brand, nor for Sydney, who has previously had to address 'misinterpretations' about her and her family's political stance after people on her Instagram page were seen wearing MAGA-style hats.
It's worth mentioning that Sydney has remained publicly apolitical amid conversations about her family's political beliefs.
Now, as the AE discourse continues to develop online, the government has weighed in on the conversation. On July 29, White House communications manager Steven Cheung took to X to share a screenshot of an MSNBC headline suggesting that the AE ad is indicative of an 'unbridled cultural shift toward whiteness.' Slamming 'dense liberal thinking,' Cheung called the reaction: 'Cancel culture run amok.'
'This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024,' he wrote. 'They're tired of this bullshit.'
As you can imagine, the White House's response has only fueled conversations about Sydney and the divisive campaign. The latest reactions online are pretty intense, with people highlighting that it hasn't exactly made the situation any better, and it's also not a good look for Sydney to have the Trump administration aligning itself with her.
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Meanwhile, others expressed confusion and disbelief that the White House even took the time to address the discourse, asking, 'do you not have a country to run?'
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Neither Sydney nor AE has publicly addressed the backlash, but has this made things worse? LMK your thoughts in the comments.
Doja Cat Just Mocked Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle Ad Campaign, And You Need To See ThisEllen Durney · July 29, 2025
Sydney Sweeney's New Jeans Campaign Is Getting Backlash For Its...Interesting TaglineNatasha Jokic · July 28, 2025
Sydney Sweeney Said The People Who Wore Those MAGA-Style Caps To Her Mom's Viral Birthday Party Thought It'd Be 'Funny' As She Addressed Fans' 'Misinterpretations'Leyla Mohammed · Aug. 10, 2023
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