(NCS) — Since Sydney Sweeney starred in a controversial American Eagle advert this summer season, which some viewers interpreted as selling eugenics and White supremacy, it looks as if the actor’s each transfer has been beneath public scrutiny in an effort to determine the place precisely she falls in the political divide. Her press interviews go viral as onlookers try to learn between the strains, and even her clothes decisions are held to the gentle in search of proof of her inside beliefs.
No shock maybe, then, that an outfit she wore earlier this week on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” has reignited passionate debate. Dressed in a form-fitting maroon costume that completed simply above her ankles and with a lacquered blonde bob that curved beneath her face, Sweeney was shortly likened by many critics to a right-wing information anchor. The feedback beneath the promotional X put up from The Tonight Show’s official account converse for themselves, as observers made spirited comparisons to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Ivanka Trump and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Similar feedback appeared beneath an Instagram image of Sweeney shared by her hairstylist. One outspoken content material creator responded by making a video on the app berating the outfit, saying Sweeney’s staff had been “doing this sh**t on purpose.”
The reactions to Sweeney’s look maybe makes extra sense when you think about the journey her public picture has had these days.
Her huge break got here in 2019 on the hit HBO present “Euphoria,” the place she garnered essential popularity of her efficiency as advanced teenager Cassie Howard. (HBO is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). Since then, Sweeney has appeared in the American TV sequence “The White Lotus,” in addition to award-winning impartial movie “Reality” (2023), buzzy rom-com “Anyone But You” (2023), and gritty sports activities drama “Christy” (2025), which follows the life of history-making skilled boxer Christy Martin and included a drastic hair and make-up transformation.
Her profession has been called “one of the most promising within young Hollywood,” and the actor’s each transfer has since been intently watched. In 2022, photographs of Sweeney at a household birthday celebration the place visitors carrying MAGA-style caps went viral, elevating eyebrows and soliciting questions on her personal political leanings. “You guys this is wild,” she posted in response on X. “An innocent celebration for my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions.” In August this 12 months, studies surfaced that Sweeney had been a registered Republican in the state of Florida since June 2024. But it was her American Eagle advert that has garnered the most criticism for its perceived eugenicist rhetoric.
Sweeney didn’t initially handle the uproar brought on by the marketing campaign, inflicting folks to attract their very own conclusions on how the actor felt about the advert. Then in November, GQ magazine revealed an on-camera interview asking Sweeney about the fallout. Sweeney responded saying she was shocked by the response however didn’t apologize, as a substitute reiterating her love for denims and her stance that she’s not there to inform folks what to assume. When requested if she needed to set the document straight on her intention, the star replied with the now-viral soundbite: “I think that when I have an issue I want to speak about, people will hear.”
Her outfit worn on Monday aligned in some methods to a broadly accepted definition of Conservative dressing. According to Marie Claire, ladies in right-wing politics want “form-fitting skirt suits, sky-high stilettos, bouncy blow-dries and full coverage makeup” to realize a glance that’s “hyper-feminine.” The New York Times’ chief trend critic Vanessa Friedman agreed, writing that femininity in the Mar-A-Lago neighborhood is performed up “to an almost cartoonish degree” and that trend is used primarily to “reinforce that proposition.”
Sweeney’s costume, which featured a cinched-waist and delicate shoulder padding, was a extra mature selection than the mini-skirts and thigh-high boots she has been carrying these days. The costume was designed by Alex Perry, whose robes have additionally been worn by Ivanka Trump in addition to Selena Gomez, Doja Cat, Jenna Ortega, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna. Whether it was a understanding wink to a discourse that feels by no means ending, or a coincidental trend selection that was devoid of that means, onlookers received’t know till Sweeney speaks for herself. But she is in no rush to take action.
In September, Variety requested Sweeney what her response is when she sees her identify trending on the web. She responded with a impartial expression and a collected tone: “I’m like, ‘Oh, what for now?’”
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