Overview
- In a PEOPLE interview, Sweeney says she was surprised by the reaction and rejects motives critics linked to the ad.
- She says staying quiet made divisions worse and explains she wants to clarify her intentions going into the new year.
- The campaign drew claims that the 'jeans' versus 'genes' wordplay carried racial implications and echoed Brooke Shields’ 1980 denim ads.
- American Eagle publicly defended the creative as focused on clothing and cited double-digit denim gains with fast sellouts, including a charity jean benefiting Crisis Text Line.
- President Donald Trump praised the ad, and Sweeney continues promoting The Housemaid ahead of its Dec. 19 theatrical release.