Who is Tiffany Fong? Influencer takes a shot at Sydney Sweeney's controversial American Eagle ad

Tiffany Fong took a shot at Sydney Sweeney's controversial American Eagle campaign. On August 2, 2025, Fong posted a video on X (originally made by X user Robert LoPinto) in which she wore a full yellow denim outfit. She captioned the post:

"MY JEANS ARE YELLOW."

Recently, American Eagle Outfitters released a campaign with the tagline: Sydney Sweeney has great jeans. This campaign relied heavily on a wordplay between "jeans" and "genes," leading viewers to think about the genetics of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Euphoria star.

"Genes are passed down from parents to offspring... My genes are blue," Sweeney said in a now-deleted video.

Tiffany Fong, who is an influencer and cryptocurrency content creator, recreated this ad. In her version, Fong could be seen imitating one of Sydney Sweeney's poses from the campaign and eating rice with chopsticks.

"Handed down from my parents before me, and their parents before them. My jeans are yellow," Fong said in the video.

The American Eagle campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney subsequently faced criticism from the public for seemingly promoting Eurocentric beauty standards. Critics believed that it subtly referenced eugenics, a theory of selective breeding for "desirable" traits, reported AP News.

Tiffany Fong's recreation of the ad seemingly flipped the wordplay. By stating that her "jeans" were "yellow," she called out the original campaign's seemingly racial implications. She also referenced the stereotype of East Asians being referred to as "yellow-skinned" with her caption.

On her YouTube repost of the same video, Fong titled it, MY JEANS ARE YELLOW. Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle Ad, but ASIAN.

---

What else do we know about Tiffany Fong?

Tiffany Fong (Image via Instagram/@tiffanyfong)

Tiffany Fong is a 2016 graduate of USC's communications program. She rose to prominence during the collapse of Celsius Network in 2022.

During this time, Fong lost $200,000 due to Celsius Network's bankruptcy. She then made a video about it titled Celsius Network: I LOST $200,000. Her video went viral, getting her over 89,000 views and launching her as a crypto commentator. Since then, she has described herself as a "reluctant crypto journalist."

In the November 24, 2023, episode of the Unchained podcast, Tiffany Fong also opened up about her connection with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

She explained that while he was under house arrest, the two reportedly developed a friendship. She detailed how they connected over conversations on mental health, childhood insecurities, and family dynamics. She also emphasized that she was "genuinely open to at least hearing out his side of the story."

"I know a lot of people already sort of wanted to call him guilty before the trial, but at that point, we hadn't actually seen any of the evidence," Tiffany Fong said.

A few months prior to making headlines for recreating the American Eagle ad starring Sydney Sweeney, Tiffany Fong also found herself at the center of a viral controversy for her alleged involvement with Elon Musk.

Elon Musk (Image via Getty)

The Wall Street Journal published a report on April 15, 2025, alleging that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had privately messaged Tiffany Fong, asking whether she was interested in conceiving a child with him. According to the report, Musk began engaging with Fong's content after she publicly discussed the entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, and later followed her on social media.

The article further claimed that although Musk and Fong had never met in person, he had sent her a message with the alleged proposition. Fong reportedly declined and later confided in her friends, including influencer Ashley St. Clair, who does share a child with Musk.

Just days after the article was published, on April 18, 2025, Fong publicly addressed the situation on X, distancing herself from the story. She asserted that she had never spoken to the outlet. She tweeted:

"For the record, I did not feed this story to WSJ (or any other outlet) and explicitly asked NOT to be included when I was contacted for comment. If you're waiting for me to comment publicly, it's not going to happen. THANKS!"

---

American Eagle and podcaster Megyn Kelly defend Sydney Sweeney amid backlash over controversial ad

Sydney Sweeney (Image via Getty Images)

American Eagle responded to the mounting backlash over Sydney Sweeney's latest ad campaign on August 1, 2025, through their official Instagram account.

in their statement, the company clarified their intent behind the campaign. They emphasized that the campaign was intended to celebrate personal style and confidence, rather than genetics or appearance.

It read:

""Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans" is and always was about the jeans. 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."

Additionally, the campaign also drew attention from several commentators and public figures. This included podcaster Megyn Kelly, who weighed in during an interview with Sky News Australia on July 31, 2025.

Kelly dismissed the criticism and defended Sydney Sweeney's appearance, calling the outrage "annoying."

"You know what? The whole thing is so annoying. I'm here to tell you there is nothing wrong with being blonde, blue-eyed, and white. Nothing," she explained.

Kelly also criticized the alleged double standard in how racial representation was discussed in advertising. She argued that women of other races could be celebrated for their features and background, but white women could not.

Kelly then positioned herself as a voice for white American women.

"I am here to speak on behalf of blonde-haired, blue-eyed, white American women. There's nothing wrong with us. F-off, if you don't like the fact that we celebrate how good we look in jeans and possibly having good genes. Period," she said.

---

Tiffany Fong has been making content as a cryptocurrency influencer and content creator. She has 49,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Sydney Sweeney is currently working on her upcoming projects, which include an untitled Christy Martin movie and Euphoria season 3.

Edited by Ankita Barat