American Eagle Fires Back at Critics: ‘It’s About the Jeans, Not Sydney Sweeney’

Teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters has a message to its critics, who took issue over its denim ad campaign with 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney that sparked a debate over race and Western beauty standards. The campaign, the retailer said, was always about the jeans.

In a statement posted on American Eagle’s Instagram account on Friday, the retailer said the ad campaign “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

The message marked the first time the teen retailer responded to days of backlash since the ad with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” launched last week.

In the run-up to the ad blitz, the company’s chief marketing officer told trade media outlets that it included “clever, even provocative language” and was “definitely going to push buttons.”

It’s unclear if the company knew how much controversy the ad could raise.

Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word “genes” instead of “jeans” when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor known for the HBO series “Euphoria” and “White Lotus.”