Sydney Sweeney Finally Caved and Addressed Her Eugenics-Coded American Eagle Ad

Last week, Sydney Sweeney broke her silence in an exclusive interview with People magazine. After months of deflection, declining engagement, and watching four consecutive films tank, the actress finally addressed the controversy surrounding her American Eagle “Great Jeans” campaign. “I was honestly surprised by the reaction,” Sweeney told the outlet. “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.”

The statement was carefully worded, strategically vague, and arrived suspiciously close to the premiere of her upcoming thriller The Housemaid. And if you’re wondering whether this means cancel culture is officially back, the answer is yes.

And here’s why that’s a good thing.

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The Art of Saying Nothing

Let’s be clear about what Sweeney actually said, and more importantly, what she didn’t. At no point in her People interview did she denounce white supremacy. She never acknowledged that Donald Trump praised her campaign. She didn’t address the fact that right-wing commentators weaponized her image as proof that “anti-woke” marketing sells. Instead, she offered the kind of statement a crisis PR team drafts at 2 a.m.

“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness,” Sweeney said—a lovely sentiment that means absolutely nothing when the President of the United States has publicly endorsed your advertising campaign as a victory against diversity initiatives.

This wasn’t Sweeney’s first opportunity to clarify her position. In a November GQ interview, when asked directly about criticism that “in this political climate, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority,” she responded: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.” The implication was clear: this wasn’t an issue she wanted to speak about.