Sydney Sweeney says silence on controversial American Eagle advert 'widened the divide'

Sydney Sweeney has spoken out about the backlash she received over her controversial American Eagle jeans advert, admitting her silence on the matter "widened the divide."

Earlier this year, the Euphoria actor starred in the divisive campaign "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," which used wordplay on “jeans” and “genes", causing some viewers to be uncomfortable with this conflation, accusing both Sweeney and the clothing brand of creating "eugenics rage bait".

At one point, even Donald Trump chimed in on the discussion, declaring, "Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there," on his platform, Truth Social.

Now, Sweeney recently addressed the fallout from starring in the advert, in an exclusive interview she told PEOPLE: "I was honestly surprised by the reaction."

"I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand. 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."

She went on to say how she "leads with kindness," and wanted to respond to the criticism from the campaign to provide further clarification on her viewpoint.

"Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness," she explained. "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."

It's not the first time Sweeney has spoken about the American Eagle advert as she was questioned on whether she was surprised by the reaction during an interview with GQ.

"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," she answered and described Trump's post about the advert as being "surreal."

"I think that when I have an issue that I wanna speak about, people will hear it."

Elsewhere from Indy100, Euphoria S3 - Everything we know so far from release date to storyline, and Sydney Sweeney gifts Amanda Seyfried delightfully odd birthday cake,

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