Sydney Sweeney says response to Jean Ad was ‘uncontrollable’

Sydney Sweeney recently addressed the controversy surrounding her American Eagle “good gene” advertisement.

The ad’s pun — “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” — was meant to promote the brand’s denim line, but it sparked online backlash almost immediately. Many criticized it for allegedly promoting ideas of racial superiority, referencing “good genes,” and for being overly sexualized and catering to the male gaze.

While the 28-year-old actress had previously avoided commenting on the matter, she finally spoke about it in an interview with The Guardian while promoting her new movie, Christy. Sweeney explained that she had “no control over people’s perceptions,” saying:

“It was surreal… it’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that. Or like, of any of it. I kind of just put my phone away.”

She added that at the time, she was filming Euphoria and working long hours:

“I was filming every day. I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days, and I don’t really bring my phone on set. I work, then I go home and sleep. So I didn’t really see a lot of it.”

Meanwhile, her latest biopic, Christy, has had a disappointing start at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed just $1.3 million over the weekend — ranking among the 12 worst openings ever for a movie shown on more than 2,000 screens.