“The media is trying to terrorize this girl”: Azealia Banks backs up Sydney Sweeney as she addresses ‘Great Jeans’ ad

Rapper and singer Azealia Banks has shown support for Sydney Sweeney after she addressed her controversial American Eagle ad. She blamed the media for trying to "terrorize" the actress, as she refused to comment on it.

In July this year, American Eagle launched a new campaign with Sydney Sweeney about its jeans. The ad showed the actress wearing the company's jeans and talking about "great jeans", which was a word play on jeans sounding similar to genes. In one clip, she said:

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”

This ad led to a big controversy, with many alleging that it has racial undertones with the mention of blue eyes and great genes. It even led to comments from the US President Donald Trump, among others.

In an interview with GQ, released on November 4, Sweeney was given the opportunity to address the controversy. She said:

"I think that when I have an issue to speak about, people will hear."

Azealia Banks shared this clip on her X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, November 6, and wrote:

"She never said any of this. The media is trying to terrorize this girl for some reason"

Also Read: "So the whole family is a mess": Internet reacts to Sydney Sweeney’s brother, Trent, referencing "good jeans" while sharing his Air Force certificate

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Sydney Sweeney on the American Eagle controversy and Donald Trump's reaction to it

Sydney Sweeney at Lionsgate's 2025 CinemaCon - Arrivals - Source: Getty

While the American Eagle ad faced a lot of backlash, it also received plenty of support, including from the US President Donald Trump. It was reported earlier this year that Sweeney is a registered republican. Hence, when asked about the ad by journalists on August 4, Trump responded:

“She’s a registered Republican? Oh. Now I love her ad! Is that right? Sydney Sweeney … You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”

In her interview with GQ, the actress was asked how she felt about the President and vice-president, JD Vance, reacting to her ad, and she answered:

"It was surreal."

When asked if it felt good that she had public support from some powerful people amidst the criticism, Sweeney answered:

"I don’t think…. It’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that, of any of it. I kind of just put my phone away. I was filming every day. I’m filming Euphoria, so I’m working 16-hour days and I don’t really bring my phone on set, so I work and then I go home and I go to sleep. So I didn’t really see a lot of it."

Sweeney also spoke about the reports suggesting that the American Eagle stock price went up by 38 per cent soon after her ad was released. She explained that she knew the numbers, so the rumors of it going down were false.

However, she added that "it didn’t affect her one way or the other" as the ad was just for great jeans.

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Also Read: “Unrelated-to a (pretty dumb) advertising take”: Halsey defends ‘Americana’ following low box office performance amid Sydney Sweeney’s ad backlash

Edited by Aditya Singh