“Cancel culture run amok”: White House responds to American Eagle backlash over Sydney Sweeney ad

American Eagle has become a hot topic of backlash on the internet after their ad featuring Sydney Sweeney went viral. The first posters of the campaign were uploaded a week ago, on July 23.

While fans were loving the new campaign, the backlash started after their third campaign post, where the Anyone But You actress was seen cleaning a poster featuring her with the caption:

"Sydney Sweeney has great genes."

The word "genes" was crossed out and replaced with "jeans."

In another campaign ad video, Sweeney was seen saying:

"Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue."

Many viewers found it problematic, saying the ad made awkward and uncomfortable references to her body and genetics, especially with the focus on how she looks.

Amid the ad controversy, White House communications manager Steven Cheung released a statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account that read:

"Cancel culture run amok. This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They're tired of this bullsh*t."

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Fake American Eagle apology posts are going viral online

On July 30, an X user, @BraedenSorbo, uploaded a humorous post with the caption:

"BREAKING: American eagle has FINALLY apologized for the Sydney Sweeney controversy."

The post featured Sydney Sweeney's photo with a humorous apology text image that joked about the ad and the marketing team's reaction, and made light of the entire ad backlash in a sarcastic tone. The audience quickly caught on to the humor and joined in on the joke.

Another fake apology surfaced from an account called ClickPost on Facebook, using the AE logo and format. It mocked the controversy with exaggerated and inappropriate language, clearly meant to be sarcastic.

While the fake apology posts continue to go viral, especially on X, AE has not issued any official statement in response to the ad or the online backlash.

Elon Musk's company, Tesla, also joined in the controversy by posting a video on X featuring the car's seat with the caption:

"Our seats robot also has great jeans."

While TMZ initially released a statement claiming it was from an AE source, the outlet later clarified that the credit was mistaken, and AE offered no official response.

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AE last posted on Instagram on July 27, with Sydney Sweeney's last post on the platform on July 23. The internet audience is now waiting to see if American Eagle will address the backlash.