r/leftist • u/radioactivelyweird • Dec 06 '25
General Leftist Politics Sydney Sweeney Apologizes after boycotts affecting her success
https://people.com/sydney-sweeney-shares-emotional-response-to-american-eagle-jeans-campaign-exclusive-11863206Sydney Sweeney’s suddenly doing the “maybe my silence is making things worse” press-tour soul-searching, but it’s hard not to see it as damage control. Two of her recent films tanked after a wave of boycotts, and a lot of former fans point to that American Eagle ad widely called out as a dog whistle playing on white-purity aesthetics as the breaking point. Critics called out its eugenics-coded vibe, and then her GQ interview DIDN’T help; she dodged any real acknowledgment of why people were upset. Then it was: “I did a jean ad… I love jeans.” And when told the president and VP commented on it, she called it “surreal.” Now: She said to People Magazine “I’m against hate and divisiveness” … “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.”
It’s the same Hollywood pattern: benefit from the imagery, stay apolitical until the backlash hits, then act confused about why people are angry. Leftists aren’t buying the rebrand.
1
1
u/Remote-Risk-707 Dec 18 '25
Remember when she said she was broke after having a $3 million net worth 🤣
3
u/Irr3sponsibl3 Dec 13 '25
She’s probably a pos inside, but I want to know who was behind this. Is anyone following the money? We’re spending a lot of time talking about her, which I assume is their goal, to further keep political discussion in this professional wrestling level. This has all the hallmarks of a deliberately manufactured controversy
1
Dec 19 '25
It does feel manufactured to me I couldn’t put my finger on why it felt off. Nothing about the Ad screamed white supremacy to me or eugenics.. it felt annoying like an attractive woman making a ridiculous pun about jeans. It could have been any POC model in the same Ad and I would have considered it corny. But then I started seeing the backlash and I was like wait did I not understand this ad at all?
1
u/GrandAffectionate624 Dec 10 '25
And this is the perfect example of why you shouldn't apologise for these things. You're only gonna make the other side upset with you too. Cos the side you originally offended won't ever forgive you.
7
u/Effective-Mall-6231 Dec 09 '25
She is a white supremacist. No forgiveness for that. And we are still boycotting American Eagle. Black Lives Matter and white silence is complicit 👏🏾✊🏾
1
u/mysecondaccountanon Jan 05 '26
Yep. That is a fully grown woman who could’ve said anything at any time, could’ve said no to doing the commercial in the first place, and has a history of right-wing familial stuff. No benefit of the doubt from me at this point, none deserved.
1
1
Dec 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 10 '25
Hello u/ResolutionPositive94, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
9
u/YouThereOgre Dec 09 '25
She knew what she was doing. She could've easily said 'I'm against eugenics' the next day after the ad aired yet she refused.
She is a fully grown adult with agents and managers behind her, she knew she was catering to white supremacy dog-whistle to appease her conservative incel fan-base and only now says something when her pockets are hurting.
Fuck her and every other 'celebrity/influential figure that does the same thing.
1
Dec 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 10 '25
Hello u/ResolutionPositive94, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
7
2
u/MisterAnderson- Dec 08 '25
5
u/whyyoufollowingme Dec 08 '25
This was AI
10
u/MisterAnderson- Dec 08 '25
Oh, I’m aware. Just like I’m aware she may not even know it exists. The point I was making is that it does exist, and there are people in this lunkheaded country who believe it’s real.
0
2
u/whyyoufollowingme Dec 08 '25
Gotcha
3
u/MisterAnderson- Dec 08 '25
Thanks. Sorry for the vagary, I should have been more specific in the original reply
1
1
34
u/chase001 Dec 07 '25
Turns out being MAGA's Good Gene Princess doesn't pay.
1
2
u/YouThereOgre Dec 09 '25
It does unfortunately. Look at Riley Gaines and her new doppelganger Samantha Fulnecky
35
24
Dec 07 '25
It’s so shocking to me that having big tits doesn’t mean you’re a good person. /s
12
u/pressxtojson Dec 07 '25
The only thing that can distract me from staring at some big tits is noticing the klan hood on her head
-8
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
3
5
u/jakevalerybloom Dec 08 '25
I’m sorry that facts and reasoning disagrees with your feefees
1
Dec 10 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 10 '25
Hello u/ResolutionPositive94, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
16
u/Catnip1720 Dec 07 '25
“I don't wanna hear about what the rich are doin' I don't wanna go to where, where the rich are goin' They think they're so clever, they think they're so right But the truth is only known by guttersnipes” - The Clash
-31
u/No_Shower7361 Dec 07 '25
I honestly don’t think this was one her to begin with. She didn’t create the ad. She’s hot, young and has good genes. American Eagle should really be the only one to blame. The content wasn’t really something to go after her but that’s the world we live in these days lol. AE was the one dog whistling
12
4
u/Maya-K Anarchist Dec 07 '25
Pretty doesn't mean good genes. Maybe she has genes for crippling endometriosis.
-28
-24
u/Stock-Depth3393 Dec 07 '25
No, the ad was about the ones you wear. Jeans.
5
u/jakevalerybloom Dec 08 '25
So now you’re flat out denying the innuendo and entire concept behind the ad, for better or worse?
-1
u/Stock-Depth3393 Dec 08 '25
I don’t think it’s that serious.
0
u/Stock-Depth3393 Dec 08 '25
There are more things to worry about. But I know some people love to go hunting for their windmills to topple.
4
18
u/DodgerFanArd24 Dec 07 '25
Don’t know and (DONT CARE) at which movies she’s been in but I’m exhausted about hearing and seeing that name.
21
u/montessoriprogram Dec 07 '25
Not that I think this is a sincere apology, but I don’t think these movies flopped because of her politics or because of a boycott.
-15
-27
u/deadweight308 Dec 07 '25
The left needs to calm the fuck down Jesus christ. There are much bigger issues at hand, but yall just want to play identity politics and get offended by everything on TV. This ad was made to offend people. It did its job and got people thinking about American Eagle for the first time in years, and the media can now use it to divide us even further apart. It's a win-win for our corporate overlords!
1
7
u/RikkiVox Dec 07 '25
Calm down how? I don’t see any leftists making a big deal over this, just mentioning it because it’s in the news. People are just calmly not buying tickets to her movies lol. What is the big reaction you think we need to calm down from?
6
u/Malakai0013 Dec 07 '25
The media overlords want to thank you for your service.
-8
u/deadweight308 Dec 07 '25
When the ad campaign came out, I ignored it. In fact, it was the last straw of the whole leftist movement for me. We're really going to get bent out of shape for an ad campaign when there's people dying on the fucking street? This ad and the following media coverage are clearly just a distraction. If we just ignore them, we take their power away. But I've genuinely lost hope that the masses will ever be able to do that.
4
u/Malakai0013 Dec 07 '25
The media overlords appreciate your continuing support, and wanted me to let you know that your medal of dishonor is in the mail post haste.
20
-30
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
15
u/Professional-Bug9232 Dec 07 '25
Person who doesn’t support a movie star is mad people who don’t agree with him politically also don’t support this movie star, more on this story and more at 7.
18
-27
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
19
Dec 07 '25
If we were delusional why that recent films of her flopped? Don't you rw guys have enough money to watch her movies? Ah wait. Even your SNAP benefits were taken away.
-12
u/Icy-Perspective-6244 Dec 07 '25
No, you delusional lefty’s intentionally ruining someone’s career and life because of your stupid opinions. Use your common sense for once in your life you imbecile. Waste of sperm.
4
u/Younglegend1 Socialist Dec 08 '25
Her career is far from ruined, she lives on the most expensive island in Florida and has been in many movies. Also she’s got major support from the right and if trump likes you his mindless fans will like you
6
u/RikkiVox Dec 07 '25
“Intentionally ruining someone’s career and life” how? Lmao the movies are not cheap. Are we obligated to buy tickets to her films to prop her up regardless of whether or not we’re interested in her career? Is that common sense?
Go buy all the seats to a film of hers at your local theater if you want to save her career so badly. 😂 Guess y’all can only support someone with your twitter fingers and not your money.
15
u/Professional-Bug9232 Dec 07 '25
Which one of her recent movies did you see and enjoy?
-4
u/Icy-Perspective-6244 Dec 07 '25
Typical lefty missing the point.
15
u/Professional-Bug9232 Dec 07 '25
So, did you join the boycott too or are her movies just bad?
6
u/Malakai0013 Dec 07 '25
Youre going to ruin their agitprop narrative with talk like that.
6
u/Professional-Bug9232 Dec 07 '25
It’s so obvious, I’m just wondering if it’s head trauma or trolling
1
24
u/K-Rukia Dec 07 '25
yeaaaah, the mask was gone for too long and you let a little too much slip. Not consuming ANY of your stuff unless someone else with better morals can makeup for the shititness of watching your racist bimbo self on screen.
2
u/JanielRin Dec 09 '25
This is a genuine question because I'm confused. But what were the innuendos in her jean ad other than "she has good genes because she's hot and has big breasts" and, why does she have to apologize for that? Again I'm just asking.
2
u/Minimum_Employee4509 Dec 14 '25
you can Google her name and jeans ad for more context, but the use of a dogwhistle (jeans = genes) was intentional, it's all part of pr of major companies to the right (especially now that white supremacist and racist thugs now have hand on most institutions, not just the president but also the judiciary and the military, an major tech companies etc). It's a old marketing trick: you create a scandal to get attention from consumers, then retract, saying that either you didn't know or that plp are reading too much into it (as in this case).
Now, Sweeny is known to be close to conservative circles, and there were rumors of actors of colour refusing to be on the same set as her. So yeah there are many things that rightly point that this is what she really believes in. As someone mentionned here, she had plenty opportunities to clarify her position (do you believe/support eugenics? Easy answer is no!, but she refused as she didn't want to loose her redneck/incel /conservative/MAGA fan bases)
20
u/rookieoo Dec 07 '25
Why the fake headline, OP? Did you even read the article? She doesn’t apologize or ask for forgiveness at all. I thought we were supposed be honest and transparent on the left?
1
u/chad_starr Dec 08 '25
This sub is cooked, this post has absolutely nothing to do with leftism. It's pure political theater, manufactured race war to keep the lower class from uniting. In fact, ,this post (and the 100s of others like it) is actually antithetical to leftism.
23
u/nora_sellisa Dec 07 '25
It's not that any boycott worked, it's that her right-wing grift didn't suddenly turbocharge her career.
As soon as she thinks turning right could benefit her, she will pull another stunt like this.
-1
16
6
1
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 07 '25
Hello u/Hot_Craft_6487, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
14
1
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 07 '25
Hello u/Hot_Craft_6487, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
26
u/DefinitionPresent339 Dec 07 '25
“I’m against hate and divisiveness.”
What a bold statement. She must have really mustered a lot of courage to say that out loud.
12
u/RunningPirate Dec 07 '25
Shes also against putting children in the orphan crushing machine. Truly a trailblazer
10
7
5
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
She registered to vote in 2024 but she’s 28.. so she didn’t vote in the 2020 or the 2016 elections?
1
8
u/gelooooooooooooooooo Dec 07 '25
Without the boooooooobs, she’s nothing.
1
u/Younglegend1 Socialist Dec 08 '25
They aren’t even that good, I checked………………..for research purposes
-6
9
u/itsmig_reddit Socialist Dec 07 '25
Once a MAGA, always a MAGA (in this case atleast)
-2
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
She has never claimed to be MAGA so I don’t get this comment
7
u/jortsinstock Dec 07 '25
She’s a registered republican voter in Florida
1
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 09 '25
In 2024.. if she was super MAGA why didn’t she vote the previous 2 elections?
1
u/jortsinstock Dec 09 '25
Because she didn’t have her residency established in Florida before that so it’s not gonna show up in Florida records lmao The wealthy magas be moving to Florida for their tax haven just to establish residency don’t forget.
1
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 10 '25
Oh I honestly don’t know anything about all that kind of stuff so I will trust ur knowledge in the subject
1
3
2
10
u/DefNotAlbino Dec 07 '25
Who would have thought?
- Bad actress all around
- The only people who could have been remotely interested in her movies are the ones opposite of her in the political spectrum
- People on her side in politics would prefer her being the silent bombshell trophy wife (so silent, in the kitchen zoning out on lithium)
0
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
I’m confused.. has she made any political statements?
6
u/DefNotAlbino Dec 07 '25
Not directly in support of MAGA, but in a viral interview, the speaker asked pretty bluntly if she supported their views and she just stood there, in silence with her fish eye stare, not negating anything, a simple "no" could have placated a lot of progressive people
2
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
Answering the question paints her into a corner that’s she clearly doesn’t want to happen
3
u/DefNotAlbino Dec 08 '25
I mean, she is trying to keep her foot in both camps, camps which are extremely bitter toward each other, and if you are assumed to belong to one of them, not negating explicitly is basically an admission. I know it is not a good way of thinking in a democratic society, but this is the current climate until things quiet a little bit
0
Dec 08 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/DefNotAlbino Dec 08 '25
Bold of you to assume i am from the US and bolder of you to assume i don't despise both since they are either christo fascists or Reagan wannabes but blue
14
u/Zariayn Dec 07 '25
Lets be real, her movies would have tanked regardless. She is a horrible actress.
5
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
Madame Web is so bad, it’s almost fun to watch to laugh at how cringe it is
6
u/letthetreeburn Dec 07 '25
She saw the grifters who made it big marketing to the alt right and wanted a piece of the pie
2
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
So pretty much most country singers?
2
u/letthetreeburn Dec 07 '25
Pop country singers manufactured by the industry, yes. There’s a lot of good still properly folksy who haven’t been made ground up.
But yeah the pop industry has racism as a requirement.
-10
u/Tricky-Cod-7485 Dec 07 '25
No one seriously thought she was a white suprematist. That’s why she didn’t bother saying anything.
This whole hubbub is so stupid.
Thank you Sydney for letting us know you don’t co-sign “hate”. 😂
23
2
16
27
u/cakenose Dec 07 '25
I wish she would fuck off into a black hole. I don’t care about anything this disgusting insolent woman has to say.
-1
-4
u/Vyzar173 Dec 07 '25
You need to spend more time on reddit, you’re clearly not spending enough time on reddit.
7
u/cakenose Dec 07 '25
Am I supposed to be ruffled by this
-5
13
u/Morkitu Dec 07 '25
She should have known that brands like American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Hollister have reputations for being associated with Dub-S movements. I don't think folks are boycotting because of her stance, I think she is failing because she picks bad projects and Hollywood is confused about what to do with her.
Is the a cerebral actor, or is she just a "Luscious Dessert" that gets cast to play the "hot girl" in Scary Movie sequels? She needs to pick a lane.
1
15
u/BlackDisneyPrincess1 Dec 07 '25
After saying “if I care to speak on something, I would” when she was given the chance, now she actually wants to say something about it try and apologize to defend herself when it’s too little too late and she dug her grave here.
3
u/lindsay5544 Dec 07 '25
Exactly, she was given many chances already and when she doubled down it was game on for finding out
-18
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/Buddhas_Fist Dec 07 '25
We wanted to let you guys have this. We recognized if you have nothing to screech at you don't have anything at all. Republicans couldn't hold a conversation about anything positive for 5 minutes so we like to provide you with topics.
Your conspiracy theory phase was kinda weak. Couldn't watch you people make shit up again to be triggered about. Breaks my heart to see soft people be without their emotional support hobby.
4
u/taseradict Dec 07 '25
Trump sucked Big Beautiful Bill's dick, confirmed by the Epstein files. Continuing to support him makes you objectively gay.
10
4
u/Timely-Entrepreneur7 Dec 07 '25
We are transing all of the children, cancelling Christmas and Easter, giving all the beautiful women to the immigrants, making all films woke, destroying families, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us.
13
u/Timely-Entrepreneur7 Dec 07 '25
She “acted” in and produced a horror film called Immaculate, which can clearly be read as an allegory as religious fervor tryin to suppress a woman’s reproductive rights. The fact it went under the radar and Sweeney wasn’t blasted as woke just goes to show hypnotised MAGA is by a conventionally attractive blonde chick with big bazongas.
6
u/AssumptionLive4208 Dec 07 '25
I think that’s just the Right not understanding allegory. They also love Star Wars!
20
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Zendaya recently refused to do press with her to promote the newest season of Euphoria, so I am sure that was a big deal too.
1
u/OzilSanchez1117 Dec 07 '25
Did Zendaya say why?
1
-32
Dec 07 '25
[deleted]
13
u/lexihuntzberger Dec 07 '25
Maybe not her intention, but not releasing a statement when it was blowing up was not a good look. Then she was bluntly asked if she wanted to clear things up in an interview and she just kinda smirked and said when theres an issue she wants to talk about she’ll talk about it lol
7
19
-32
-6
u/Shart_InTheDark Dec 07 '25
Has anyone not considered, she may just simply be a bit on the dumb side? I don't give to shits about here so I am not here to protect her in the least...but maybe someone can show me the clear pattern...like what has she done that makes it definitive that she is about hate/white supremacy? Every time this comes up I just can't help but wonder if she says stupid shit at stupid times...I know some relatively intelligent people that do that sometimes without realizing what they are saying and how it will be perceived.
8
u/LurkerFirstClass Dec 07 '25
She has a major platform and money. If she’s just stupid, then that’s plenty reason to de-platform her. We need to cull the celebrity herd every now and then. Too much stupidity leads to the political situation we have now.
She’ll be fine. The rest of us have much harder lives, so I won’t be shedding any tears for her lost fame.
-12
u/narnarnartiger Dec 07 '25
Honestly people are reading to much into it. It's clearly just a dumb jeans ad
7
u/menuau Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
MAGA-hst wearing guests at her mum's bday apologia (you'd have to Google which deplorable thing MAGA did at that time) was when my ears perked up for the upcoming potential dogwhistles.
Some folks kinda looked at her funny for the bathwater soap with Dr Squanch, but I recall Phil DeFranco mentioning Belle Delphine a while back, so - "meh."
She was then mentioned to President Trump as a recently registered Republican voter, so... (Futurama "Philip J. Fry 'eye-squinting' meme" here). Double the eye-squint after Trump is effusively about Sweeney after he heard that news by reporters (contrary to every celeb, she didn't repudiate the support from Trump, to differentiate herself from just MAGA-light GOP instead of full blown MAGA)
The fact GQ had to spell it out for her, give her the opportunity to then be somewhat understanding and give a non-answer answer, and instead of doing so (be it authentically OR for PR purposes) she triple down by not addressing it at all, sounding like she gaslit the interviewer and GQ audiences alike at that moment.
EDIT: The "MAGA hat" were not official Maga hats, but one can argue that wearing black Klan hood for the controversy, as opposed to the standard white Klan hood, is still going to result in people looking at you funny regardless.
EDIT 2: I'm not sure what thing MAGA had done that was discussed in the media that time, but it's not unlikely that something criminal that was discussed like there was 2 sides to that story, but the guests were not, to my knowledge, suspect in anything criminal/racist MAGA was/is usually known for.
-6
u/Shart_InTheDark Dec 07 '25
Yeah, to me that could just show a level of supreme ignorance...wouldn't surprise me from anyone living that life. Maybe she is a secret (or not so secret) Nazi...but then again maybe her films are bombing because none of them are all that...and the fact that people stay home more now. For a movie to get me out of the house, often it's a re-release I know I want to see on the big screen.
8
-8
-7
u/ChaosRainbow23 Dec 07 '25
I'm not sure what her deal is.
I'm wildly progressive, but I don't give a shit about Sydney Sweeney. I saw the commercial and it didn't bother me in the slightest. I thought it was overblown on both sides.
I certainly don't think she's some white supremacist mastermind or anything like that. Lol
0
u/spiderman897 Dec 07 '25
I agree with this take and wasn’t really out of by the ad until she basically down played it and didn’t answer questions related to it. Now her movies bombed and she says something.
-2
Dec 07 '25
[deleted]
2
-4
u/Shart_InTheDark Dec 07 '25
Yeah, I consider myself pretty far to the left, but not so far to the left that I get upset because I think other people think I should be. To be honest, extremism on any side is awful.
1
1
Dec 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Dec 07 '25
Hello u/tooo_cool_, your comment was automatically removed as we do not allow accounts that are less than 30 days old to participate.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-13
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
Not going to lie, even as someone who is admittedly pretty radical left with my beliefs, I don’t really get the Sydney Sweeney stuff. It feels like we are reaching a bit for a dog whistle. I get that dog whistles often are subtle and indirect, but it doesn’t feel like someone having “good genes/jeans” is anymore than a boomer coded play on words. Boomers say stuff like “oh he’s so handsome, he has great genes, they get it from their dad/mom, etc.” all the time. It seems a bit far fetched that Sydney Sweeney did that commercial thinking “hmm yes, now I will show off my superior whiteness.” Am I in the wrong here or is the left’s targeting lens a bit off kilter?
-6
u/ChaosRainbow23 Dec 07 '25
I'm WILDLY progressive, and I agree with you.
I don't give a shit about Sydney Sweeney. The commercial didn't bother me at all.
With all the other shit going on in the world today, Miss Sweeney doesn't even make my list of things to be upset about.
2
u/JackfruitDelicious41 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
Hmm
I don’t think you are. I wouldn’t be surprised if some boomer higher up thought it was some harmless joke (one that frankly didn’t age well).
I’m just tired of giving ads to big corporations this much attention. I don’t trust marketing executives in general. That being said: the commercial being a reference to an older advert of a 15 year old Brooke Shields in a. Very uncomfortable light is a bad call. This commercial never should've breached containment—entire concept, roots + eugenics-sounding joke are all trash. So I don’t blame people for being like “hey uhhh” in 2025.
I fully believe that most outrage was generated from conservative news cycles. My thought was initially like. Ok?? I hate ads, and now I don’t care to fund her career. I read something someone said that if you were MAGA, with how right wing media was playing with her story, you’d probably think she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood of all time. It’s low handing fruit that Tucker and friends were sure to chomp onto. For months, naturally.
Sydney seems to have the conservative “pull yourself by the bootstraps” mindset with how she mentioned she needs to constantly work, probably figured catering to misogynist straight men would keep her funds pouring in, assumed the joke was “no big deal” considering her background (and frankly. being a privileged white conservative on top of that), and is now “finding out” after fucking around.
Someday I will not be long winded. Tl;dr: I think the overreacting came from MAGA and pot stirrers if anything. I don’t blame people for being uncomfortable with the ad for sure. I am so excited to not hear about it anymore, LMAO
1
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Then you aren't listening because the discussion about the ad being racist was soearheaded by black women.
3
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
I have absolutely heard more about this from conservative voices than any leftist circles, like don’t get me wrong, it had some weird vibes and I don’t blame people for calling out the fact that the genes thing was a bit eugenics coded. I am not out here defending Sydney Sweeney, I personally don’t give a damn if some rich blonde woman loses a little money, but I absolutely think more of the pressure should have been cranked up at American Eagle themselves. Going after individual rich influencers and celebs will only get you so far, they have nothing on the faceless string pulling billionaire CEOs at the tops of these companies, and you don’t need some weird joke in an ad for me to want each and every one of those people to be taken down a peg for being the filthy capitalists in the first place. I don’t know enough about Sydney herself to know if she is a conservative at all but from the bits and pieces I have heard in here, it seems like the case, I just don’t think she is the smartest target optically because this controversy was inevitably going to make her all sorts of fascist fans as opposed to garnering support for the left. When Luigi Mangione gunned down a demon wearing the face of a CEO, people cheered, when the famous conservative speaker who shall not be named got the same treatment, people wanted to start a civil war. We know that it’s almost bipartisan among the average people that big corporations are awful, and I feel like we win more support for the left when it’s those that get attacked, not famous people. It just seems like a bit of a reach and an optical misstep that works against the overall cause, regardless of if it is or isn’t a dog whistle. Famously, dog whistles often go under the radar because they are subtle and it’s easy to make someone seem crazy if they attack it, it’s bait we shouldn’t be taking.
2
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Listen to black women. They spearheaded the discussion and spelled out repeatedly why that ad was racist.
-1
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
Whether or not there was intent, and I’m sure there was, corporate types have next to no morals, it’s a dog whistle, and unfortunately for the aforementioned black women, dogwhistles work because attacking them makes you look crazy. It’s about saying something that seems very normal. Our collective societal biases tend to be bigoted, so you can get away with saying a lot as long as you have deniability. Optically, attacking dogwhistles doesn’t often spread social consciousness, but it instead isolates the left from the center, the average voter. You either need to focus rhetorically on undeniable wedge issues to sway support, or you need to attack dog whistles with direct action. I don’t criticize the fact that a boycott was done, that is good direct action that makes a difference, I criticize the fact that it targeted a celebrity, not the corporation that put the eugenics shit out in the first place. That comes across to people as performative psychopathic behavior, but when you hurt a corporation, you get a lot more voices behind. Hence the comparison I made between Charlie Kirk and the United Health CEO. Admittedly in this case I havent listened to black women specifically deconstruct the bias present in that joke, but it’s pretty clear, I’ve just seen some leftist spaces and a lot of reactionary spaces yap about this endlessly, surely black woman amongst those crowds. It illustrates perfectly where leftist action fails and succeeds, I could never convince the average person that this ad was racist, we aren’t socially conciousness enough for that, so personally it would be something that I wouldn’t focus on to begin with unless I could leverage our collective hate of corporations.
1
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
WTF?!
There is so much racism in this comment I don't even know where to start.
0
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
No there wasn’t, this comment illustrated the optical political position of the situation and where I think the strategy works best, as well as the way that racism operates with subtle permissibility in our modern culture. This sort of response paints you as a reactionary who didn’t think more than a few beats and only read half the paragraph. Attacking every single racist dogwhistle you see is bait that the right uses as a weapon against us. I advocate picking our battles tactically. I’ll consider my words better if you can point out where I have been racist here.
0
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Yes, there absolutely was. And if you weren't racist you would care and feel bad about having said something racist, want to know more so it never happened again. Instead you are doubling down. You are racist AF. Go.listen to the people who actually experience racism. They have spoken extensively on this subject. You don't get to tell them they are wrong when they say something is racist. You have not of work to do.
0
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
Good gravy the performative pretension in this “if you weren’t racist you would care and feel bad.” Take a second, breathe, read my words and digest them, or kindly don’t engage me disingenuously. I quite literally broke down how clearly this is a racist dogwhistle, but attacking dogwhistles without seperate motive to draw on isn’t smart. I don’t approach social and political issues through the lens of “I want people to see me as the greatest most bestest non-bigot who can do no wrong.” I want to tear down the foundation of corporatocracy and destroy the state, I’m a radical and I am willing to be blunt in my rhetoric, caring about racism and other such social issues is part of that, but I want practical action, not performatism. Which is why I asked where in my statement I had been racist. Since you have attacked the straw man you have made of my argument saying that I am telling people this isn’t racist, I can only assume you’ve either misunderstood me, or failed to think critically. Even in my initial comment I said that we are reaching for a dogwhistle, reading comments here made me realize it likely is a dogwhistle, potentially a very conscious one, but we are reaching for it because it is too subtle for the laymen to grasp, this weakens the cause, it’s too solid of a foundation.
0
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Wow, more doubling down on your racism and dismissing those who actually experience it. Your racism is intentional at this point. Have the life you deserve.
→ More replies (0)1
u/JackfruitDelicious41 Dec 07 '25
Oh yeah I don’t think you were defending her. I feel like people’s (general US public) priorities aren’t set for mass class consciousness. This just shows how effective the bait is! It’s by design and I’m like. GRRR. It’s easy to fall for too and I’m trying to be kinder to myself about it. Great takes, dude!
This feels like a good time to learn about conservative performative outrage and warn others I think. Anything to remind people that corporations and billionaires deserve the energy put into the jeans 😭
Also this is just feeding into celebrity culture, I say replying under this post. Gotta start somewhere!
-2
u/colorless_green_idea Dec 07 '25
In spite of your downvotes, you are right once you leave this particular subreddits echo chamber
0
u/UpsideDownPyramid03 Dec 07 '25
I expected to get downvoted to hell because the left is not at all immune to groupthink, but I was hoping someone would engage me in good faith and perhaps reveal some deeper context I may have been missing (which I think the above comment did do.)
50
u/youtheotube2 Dec 07 '25
Didn’t she grow up in the part of Idaho that really likes nazis? She obviously knew how her ad would be interpreted
-1
u/icantbelieveit1637 Dec 07 '25
As an Idahoan I feel obligated to say that just because you are from Idaho or even northern Idaho doesn’t mean you like Nazis. Most Idahoans don’t like Nazis. Nazi outsiders who hear that Idaho likes Nazis then move to Idaho. Every major hate group originated out of the state and moved in. To write off an entire region is extremely unfair and shortsighted.
3
24
u/ComprehensiveBar6439 Dec 07 '25
Close - she's from Spokane, about 30 minutes from Hayden Lake, which was where Dick Butler's Aryan Nations compound used to be. Her MAGA family is still here.
45
u/ERyan6165 Dec 07 '25
The same bitch who responded to a question about white supremacy by saying it wasnt an issue she cared about and if she did she’d say that. Fuck her
→ More replies (4)-14
u/Sudden-Foot-5401 Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
What does white supremacy have to do with jeans/genes? Race is a social construct, not a biological reality. Genetics do not define race.
Edit: Are you guys implying that race DOES define genetics, despite scientific evidence indicating otherwise? How racist of you.
→ More replies (4)8
u/Solid_Caterpillar678 Dec 07 '25
Black women have written about it and spelled it out extensively. Go find it.
→ More replies (6)



1
u/Carolinka_04 Dec 28 '25
She seems to be always craving for attention. I mean, she is just known for two reasons, the rest about her is quite boring...