Photo: Getty Images
A video of actress Sydney Sweeney shooting at a gun range resurfaced online and went viral after she was revealed to be registered as a Republican amid backlash over her American Eagle denim campaign.
Sweeney, 27, was seen firing shots and taking out multiple dummy targets while preparing for an unspecified movie role in the clip from 2019. The actress is at the center of a debate over her 'great jeans' commercials, which led to sleuths sharing that she's been registered with the Republican Party of Florida in Monroe County since June 2024, according to public voter records viewed by the New York Post.
Buzzfeed News initially reported on the actress' party affiliation after a post shared by X user @time222smoke went viral.
"Was about to make a whole youtube video exploring Sydney Sweeney's choices not defending her but going through her career context and i just found out this lady is an actual registered member of the republican party as of 2024," the X post states.
Sweeney was featured in a provocative American Eagle ad campaign that some liberal critics deemed to be "Nazi propaganda" promoting racism and eugenics as the blonde hair, blue-eyed buxom actress explains that genes passed down from parents to offspring "often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color" before saying, "my jeans are blue."
A narrator then says, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans" with text stating the same. A separate advertisement shows Sweeney crossing out "genes" to write "jeans" on a billboard with her likeness.
American Eagle issued a response defending its advertising campaign amid the backlash.
"'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans," the company said in a statement shared on its social media accounts Friday (August 1). "Her jeans. Her story.
"We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way.
"Great jeans look good on everyone."
Sweeney hasn't publicly acknowledged the backlash, however, was heckled while arriving at a viewing of her upcoming film Americana on Monday (August 4) when a disgruntled fan yelled, "Stop the ad, that is being racist," in a clip shared by TMZ.