Sydney Sweeney Refuses to Discuss American Eagle Ad Controversy While at TIFF Promoting ‘Christy’ Movie: ‘I’m Not There to Talk About Jeans’

Sydney Sweeney told Vanity Fair ahead of the Toronto International Film Festival that she will not be discussing her controversial American Eagle ad campaign while on the ground at the annual event for the world premiere of her indie boxing drama “Christy.” Sweeney stars in the David Michôd-directed film as professional boxer Christy Martin.

TIFF will mark the actor’s first major press appearances since the American Eagle campaign garnered national attention over the summer. While Sweeney walked the red carpet at the August premiere of her movie “Americana,” she did not talk to press at the event.

“I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I’m not there to talk about jeans,” Sweeney said. “The movie’s about Christy, and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”

Sweeney’s ads were built around the slogan “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” which was a riff on “great genes” and caused some voices to denounce the campaign for glorifying her white heritage and thin physique. Some users on social media even compared the ads to “Nazi propaganda.”

“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” American Eagle said in a statement defending the campaign. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Just this week, American Eagle revealed Sweeney’s jeans collaboration sold out within a week and said the ad campaign “generated unprecedented new customer acquisition.”

Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign caused so much chatter online that even Trump’s White House weighed in on the backlash, with communications manager Steven Cheung calling the backlash a prime example of “cancel culture run amok.” Sweeney has never commented publicly on the campaign and will not do so at TIFF.

As for “Christy,” the boxing drama will be seeking distribution at TIFF when it debuts Sept. 5. Sweeney told Vanity Fair she “was blown away” by the real Christy Martin’s true story as an underdog champion and called herthe “most harrowing and inspiring women that I’ve ever met in my entire life.”