Sydney Sweeney Says She Is ‘Against Hate’
It’s been four months since Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad caused conservatives to embrace her as their sexy anti-woke patron saint, and in that time she hasn’t really revealed how she felt about it. As recently as last month, she was still tight-lipped, calling the fallout “surreal” but saying she “didn’t really see a lot of it” because she was busy filming Euphoria. “I did a jean ad,” she told GQ. “I love jeans. All I wear are jeans.” Not really what everyone was wondering about, but sure!
In an interview with People on Friday, though, Sweeney attempted to address the mess for real. “Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together,” she said. “I’m against hate and divisiveness.” Sweeney said her stance in the past has been “to never respond to negative or positive press,” but she’s recently realized her “silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it,” she said.
Recalling the controversy around the ad, Sweeney reiterated that she was “honestly surprised by the reaction” and again explained how much she loves jeans. “I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand,” she said. “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.”
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Sweeney finally decided to talk about this mess — the ad has plagued pretty much every project she’s rolled out since, including her boxing biopic, Christy, which debuted nationwide in November with one of the worst box-office openings of all time. Her promo tour for The Housemaid isn’t going much better — a recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon ignited accusations that she was deliberately dressing like a Fox News anchor. Maybe this clarification will help quiet the noise?
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