Sydney Sweeney refuses to discuss American Eagle backlash: “I’m not there to talk about jeans”
Sydney Sweeney courted controversy with an advert for American Eagle; now, she’s refusing to talk about the incident on the upcoming press circuit for her new boxing movie, Christy.
The actor will soon be heading to the Toronto International Film Festival for her new David Michôd-directed film, in which Sweeney stars as professional boxer Christy Martin.
This will be the first time Sweeney answers questions from the press since the advertisement went viral. In it, American Eagle teamed up with Sweeney for a new campaign, Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans, which plays on “jeans” and “genes”. The advert faced criticism for promoting eugenics, suggesting her white heritage and natural thinness were more desirable than other genes.
Donald Trump even came to her defence. Reacting to reports that she had officially registered as a Republican in 2024, Trump said, “She’s a registered Republican? Now I love her ad. You’d be surprised how many people are Republicans. That’s one I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that.”
Ahead of her upcoming appearance at the film festival, Sweeney wanted to be sure that everybody was on the same page as her in relation to what topics she would and would not talk about. “I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I’m not there to talk about jeans,” Sweeney told Variety.
She added, “The movie’s about Christy, and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”
Elsewhere in the land of Sweeney, two of her recent movies have struggled at the box office. Americana, a 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. Sweeney’s other new movie, Eden, directed by Ron Howard, also struggled at the box office, earning only $1 million.
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