Sydney Sweeney, the actor at the center of a high-profile advertising controversy this summer, said she will not be discussing the backlash surrounding an American Eagle denim campaign during appearances at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Speaking to Vanity Fair at TIFF while promoting her new film, Sweeney said, “I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I’m not there to talk about jeans. The movie’s about Christy, and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”
The remarks are Sweeney’s first public acknowledgment of the controversy that began after American Eagle unveiled a campaign in July featuring the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans/genes.” Critics argued that some advertisements implicitly glorified whiteness and echoed eugenic language, prompting widespread online debate and criticism of both the brand and the actress.
The campaign’s rollout coincided with a period of intense public scrutiny for Sweeney. Her film Americana, released Aug. 15, underperformed at the box office, while American Eagle saw a rise in its stock price following the debut of the campaign, a contrast noted by industry observers.
At TIFF, Sweeney is promoting Christy, a biopic in which she portrays Christy Martin, the American boxer credited with helping put women’s boxing into the mainstream in the mid-1990s. The film’s subject and Sweeney’s performance are the focus of festival interviews and screenings, she said.
Sweeney declined to expand on the American Eagle ads and instead emphasized attention to the cast and crew behind Christy. Her comments come after weeks of online backlash, in which social media users, commentators and some cultural critics weighed in on the advertising campaign’s language and imagery.
Festival appearances offer actors an opportunity to concentrate media coverage on their projects; Sweeney’s statement to Vanity Fair made clear she intends to use her TIFF platform for that purpose. The controversy surrounding the denim campaign prompted discussion across entertainment and cultural outlets about advertising language, celebrity endorsements and the responsibilities of brands and spokespeople.
Representatives for Sweeney and American Eagle did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. Sweeney’s role in Christy and the film’s reception at TIFF will likely shape subsequent media coverage, but for the duration of the festival she said the conversation will remain centered on the movie and its creators.