Since becoming the face of American Eagle’s hotly debated new jeans campaign, fresh voter registration records have revealed Sydney Sweeney’s political affiliation.
Documents reviewed by Complex (first spotted by Buzzfeed, who credited X user @time222smoke) show that the actress has been a registered member of the Republican Party of Florida since June 2024.
Sweeney recently went viral as the star of AE’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” campaign, which many slammed as a thinly veiled nod to eugenics because of its play on “great genes” and her blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” the Euphoria star says in the ad.
“My jeans are blue.”
The brand has stood by the viral campaign and Sweeney, insisting the message was simply about the denim and her story.
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone,” the company said in a statement.
Doja Cat and Sarah Banet-Weiser, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, were among those who criticized AE’s campaign. Banet-Weiser spoke with NPR’s All Things Considered about the ad.
“You’re playing on the word ‘gene,’ and you’re saying this is about good genes, and you’re literally going through, I’m white, I’m blonde, I have got blue eyes, I have blue jeans,” she said. “It’s pretty hard to spin that as not about some kind of racist, eugenic argument, especially in the cultural moment that we are in right now.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance mocked the backlash during an appearance on the Ruthless podcast.
“I actually thought that one of the lessons [Democrats] might take is we’re going to be less crazy. And the lesson they have apparently taken is, ‘We’re going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful,’” Vance said around the five-minute mark of the episode. “Great strategy, guys. That’s how you’re going to win the midterm, especially young American men.”
About three years earlier, Sweeney faced criticism when her family hosted a hoedown-themed 60th birthday party for her mom, Lisa Sweeney. Photos from the event showed some guests wearing hats resembling ‘Make America Great Again’ caps.
“An innocent celebration for my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions,” Sweeney said at the time.
