Sydney Sweeney calls Trump and JD Vance's support of her controversial American Eagle ad 'surreal'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Sydney Sweeney has finally weighed in on the controversy surrounding her ad campaign with American Eagle jeans. 

The ad, featuring "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans" as its slogan, drew strong reactions and became a political flashpoint, even prompting comments from both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Sydney Sweeney’s reaction to Trump and JD Vance’s support

Addressing the intense public debate surrounding her controversial American Eagle jeans ad during an interview with GQ to promote her film 'Christy', Sydney Sweeney was asked about the reaction from top leaders.  

When the interviewer brought up the fact that both the president and the vice president had spoken about the ad, Sweeney's immediate reaction was to describe the experience as "surreal."

Trump and JD Vance's reaction  to Sydney Sweeney ad

The support came from both the top leaders whereby President Donald Trump voiced his support for the ad on Truth Social and in later remarks to reporters. 

"She's a registered Republican?" questioned Trump, after a reporter indicated Sweeney voted with Republicans in 2024. 

The president said, "You'd be surprised at how many people are Republicans ... I'm glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!"

Vice President JD Vance also weighed in earlier in the year on the 'Ruthless' podcast, joking about the backlash from the left.

He said, "My political advice to the Democrats is: continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi." 

He added, "You have, like, a normal all-American beautiful girl doing like a normal jeans ad, right? They're trying to sell, you know, sell jeans to kids in America and they have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing. And it's like, you guys, did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?"

Sydney Sweeney refutes ad's negative impact by asserting it was all made up

When speaking with GQ about the backlash to her American Eagle ad, Sweeney said she tried not to pay too much attention to the controversy, but she objected to the idea that the ads had somehow negatively impacted American Eagle's business. 

She told the magazine that headlines indicating it had affected the performance of the company were "all made up" and entirely incorrect as she “was aware of the numbers as it was going." 

Despite the continuous public speculation about her own personal beliefs, Sweeney underscored her desire to focus on the future. "I know who I am. I know what I value. I know that I'm a kind person. I know that I love a lot, and I know that I'm just excited to see what happens next," she elaborated, concluding, "And so I don't really let other people define who I am."