Hollywood actress Sydney Sweeney has once again found herself at the center of a public and political debate — not for a role or a red carpet appearance, but due to her recent voter registration and a controversial advertising campaign.
According to publicly accessible Florida voter registration records reviewed by The Guardian, Sweeney officially registered as a Republican on June 14, 2024, just months before Donald Trump secured a second term as U.S. president.
The news comes alongside a wave of attention focused on Sweeney's latest commercial venture — a denim campaign with American Eagle titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes.”
The campaign plays heavily on a pun between "genes" and "jeans," with ads featuring the Euphoria and White Lotus star modeling denim while delivering lines that blur the line between scientific commentary and innuendo. One ad shows Sweeney saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… My jeans are blue,” while the word “genes” is crossed out and replaced with “jeans.”
Although American Eagle intended the campaign to be lighthearted and clever, some online critics were quick to label the ads as tone-deaf. Particularly on TikTok and Twitter/X, users accused the campaign of evoking harmful associations with eugenics and white supremacist rhetoric.
This criticism emerged amid political tension in the U.S., where Trump’s second administration has targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and pushed hardline immigration policies.
Some progressive commentators linked the controversy around the ad campaign with Sweeney’s political affiliations, arguing that the two together painted a troubling picture.
A viral TikTok labeled the campaign “Nazi-coded,” though many others in the media and public dismissed such reactions as extreme. One X user quipped, “No one was trying to cancel Sydney Sweeney. And no one cares if she’s Republican or not.”
Conservatives, meanwhile, seized the moment to praise Sweeney. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung labeled the backlash “cancel culture run amok” and commended the actress for supposedly bucking liberal Hollywood norms.
Her decision to register as a Republican has been hailed by some as a quiet act of political defiance. This is not the first time Sweeney has faced scrutiny regarding her political associations.
In 2022, she was criticized after photos surfaced from her mother’s birthday party, where some guests wore red hats resembling Trump’s MAGA merchandise. At the time, Sweeney issued a statement urging the public not to make political assumptions based on family celebrations, calling the controversy “absurd.”
Sweeney has not commented publicly on her voter registration or the recent campaign backlash, and her team has remained silent as well. The actress has long avoided overt political commentary, preferring to keep her public persona focused on her acting and modeling work.
Yet, her silence has only fueled speculation and debate, particularly among younger and politically engaged fans. Despite the uproar from certain corners of social media, American Eagle’s campaign appears to be a commercial success.
The company has reported a stock boost following the campaign’s launch, and in a statement released Friday, reaffirmed its creative intent: “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”
The situation has drawn comparisons to previous brand controversies, such as Bud Light’s 2023 campaign featuring trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which triggered a boycott and sales slump. But unlike Bud Light, American Eagle has stood by its star and its creative team — a decision that, so far, seems to be paying off.
As the political and commercial dimensions of celebrity continue to intersect, Sydney Sweeney has found herself — perhaps unwillingly — as a lightning rod in America’s ongoing culture wars.
Whether her voter registration was a private matter that went public or part of a broader personal alignment remains unclear. But one thing is certain: in today’s political climate, even a pair of jeans can spark a firestorm.
