Washington DC [US], September 5 : Actor Sydney Sweeney refused to talk about her controversial ad campaign at the Toronto International Film Festival during the world premiere of her indie boxing drama 'Christy', according to Variety.
Sweeney stars in the David Michod-directed film as professional boxer Christy Martin.
"I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I'm not there to talk about jeans," Sweeney said. "The movie's about Christy, and that's what I'll be there to talk about."
She appeared in a jeans advertisement where she says, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue."
Sweeney's ads were built around the slogan 'Sydney Sweeney has great jeans', which plays on the word "genes", leading viewers to think about the genetics of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman and causing some voices to denounce the campaign for glorifying her white heritage and thin physique, according to Variety.
"'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story," American Eagle said in a statement defending the campaign. "We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone."
Sweeney's ad campaign caused so much debate online that even Trump's White House weighed in on the backlash, with communications manager Steven Cheung calling the backlash a prime example of "cancel culture run amok." Sweeney has never commented publicly on the campaign and will not do so at TIFF, reported Variety.
'Christy', the boxing drama, premieres at TIFF. Sweeney shared that she "was blown away" by the real Christy Martin's true story as an underdog champion and called her the "most harrowing and inspiring woman that I've ever met in my entire life," according to Variety.