American Eagle responds to Sydney Sweeney ‘great jeans’ ad controversy

American Eagle shut down the critics after Sydney Sweeney faced backlash for joking about having “great genes” in a controversial denim campaign with the brand.

“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” the company said in a press release obtained by Page Six Style Friday.

The fashion brand added that it’s “Her jeans. Her Story.”

“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” the statement continued, before concluding, “Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Earlier this week, Sweeney landed in hot water after appearing in a denim ad for the Pennsylvania-based business in which she rolled around in a Canadian tuxedo while raving about having “great Jeans.”

“I have great jeans…now you can too @americaneagle #AEPartner #AEJeans,” the blond-haired, blue-eyed actress wrote on Instagram alongside a video for the campaign.

The slogan, intended to be a pun on the word “genes,” immediately upset social media users, with some calling it “Nazi propaganda.”

“When those traits are consistently uplifted as genetic excellence, we know where this leads,” one person argued in a TikTok video.

“This just echoes pseudoscientific language of racial superiority,” she continued. “All throughout history, those traits have been weaponized to uphold a racial hierarchy.”

Others hopped to Sweeney’s defense, siding with American Eagle’s latest statement that the campaign was a simple case of wordplay.

The brand seemed to shut down eugenics accusations by sharing another series of images as part of the “Great Jeans” campaign in which a black woman with dark hair posed in similar denim outfits, though commenters were still skeptical.

“Denim on denim on denim… on denim. AE has great jeans👖✨,” the company captioned the photos on July 27.

Notably, American Eagle’s stock reportedly jumped by 18% after the campaign dropped, and while numbers have dipped, the company is still coming out ahead from where it started before Sweeney’s ad made headlines.

The “Euphoria” actress has yet to comment on the viral discourse over the photo shoot, but both Lizzo and Doja Cat have mocked Sweeney with their own satirical version of the campaign on social media.

Seemingly lost in the conversation is that Sweeney’s collaboration with American Eagle is for a good cause, with 100% of the purchase prices to be donated to Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit organization that provides 24/7 mental health support.