Halsey launches defence of ‘Americana’ following Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle controversy: “This is cinema”
Halsey has defended her new movie, Americana, after it was embroiled in controversy due to Sydney Sweeney‘s American Eagle campaign.
The horror movie, which stars both Halsey and Sweeney alongside Paul Walter Hauser, arrived in cinemas on August 15th, 2025. During the first week of the box office, Americana scored sales of $500,000.
As a result of the low box office revenue, the film, which was shown in only 1,100 cinemas, has been mocked online. Similarly, Sweeney’s other new movie, Eden, directed by Ron Howard, also struggled at the box office, earning only $1 million.
Taking to Instagram Stories, Halsey told her followers: “You should go see this movie. Because @tonytost made an exceptional film, in honor of a genre he knows intimately. Because his work and his vision are greater than the 24 hr gossip tabloid denim bullshit.”
The “denim bullshit” is a reference to Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle advertising campaign, called Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans, a play on “jeans” and “genes”. It has since been mocked by fellow musicians Doja Cat and Lizzo, as well as being accused of promoting eugenics.
Donald Trump also expressed support for the campaign, writing on Truth Social, “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!”
While the noise surrounding the advert has drowned out talk of Americana, Halsey believes Tost deserves credit for his creation, with her post continuing, “He’s an incredible artist who made a great film with a group of hardworking, talented people. If you love cinema, than you should know that cinema comes first. This is cinema.”
Then, in a second post, Halsey clarified her comments, “I do agree that our words are important in this climate. I don’t, however, think that it’s fair for the news cycle to predatorily rip a hardworking director and his hardworking crew for this film that is completely separate-from and unrelated-to a (pretty dumb) advertising take.”
Tost seems unfazed by the film’s performance at the box office, writing on X on August 22nd, “One of the great things about movies is that they outlive the zeitgeist into which they were released. As someone whose first film sorta got gobbled up by the zeitgeist, I’ll be curious to see how it’ll stand up after this moment is over. Hopefully fairly well!”
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