Sydney Sweeney believes in a separation of arts and politics.
Appearing on the cover of Cosmopolitan, the Euphoria actress was once again asked about being at the “center of a lot of culture war conversations,” likely a reference to her viral American Eagle jeans ad that sparked widespread backlash. The interviewer asked Sweeney what she thinks about being labeled “MAGA Barbie” in alignment with her hesitancy to speak about her personal politics, which she affirmed is a topic she won’t be speaking on.
“I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,” Sweeney said. “And I think because of that, people want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn. But it’s somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that.”
When asked why she doesn’t clarify or correct speculation about her political views, the Christy star said, “I haven’t figured it out. I’m not a hateful person. If I say, ‘That’s not true,’ they’ll come at me like, ‘You’re just saying that to look better.’ There’s no winning. There’s never any winning. I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am. I can’t make everyone love me. I know what I stand for.
Sweeney further noted that she doesn’t see herself confirming her political beliefs in the future.
“No,” she said when asked. “I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics. That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into. It’s not why I became who I am. I became an actor because I like to tell stories, but I don’t believe in hate in any form. I believe we should all love each other and have respect and understanding for one another.”
Sweeney’s July 2025 American Eagle campaign stirred up controversy, partly due to a piece of the advert where she says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Some argued that the campaign tagline, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” was a play on the term “great jeans” versus “great genes,” and instead was about promoting eugenics. The ad garnered so much online backlash at the time that it prompted American Eagle to respond, releasing a statement that read in part, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”
She previously responded to the controversy in a November interview with GQ, where she said, “I did a jean ad. I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life.” Sweeney added that it was “surreal” to see the president and vice president speak about the ad.
“I knew at the end of the day what that ad was for, and it was great jeans, it didn’t affect me one way or the other,” she told GQ. “I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think … when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
And she also recently spoke out about her “silence” about the fallout from the campaign, telling People, “In the past, my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
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