A commercial for American Eagle jeans featuring actress Sydney Sweeney has sparked significant controversy, with criticism escalating after former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, who has admitted to having neo-Nazi beliefs in his youth, praised the advertisement on social media.
The campaign, launched in late July, features Sweeney in denim with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” which plays on the word “genes.” In promotional videos, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress states, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.