Actress Sydney Sweeney solidified herself as a far-right darling after American Eagle’s controversial blue jeans ad which, some said gave a hat tip to eugenics, but that didn’t seem to help her at the box office with her latest movie.
The “Euphoria” star put on 30 pounds and traded in her blonde locks to play gay boxing legend Christy Martin in the biopic “Christy,” which was a major departure from Sweeney’s more stereotypically feminine roles.
Boxer Christy Martin with Sydney Sweeney
Unfortunately, it seems, her dream of branching out missed the mark on opening weekend. The movie pulled a low $1.3 million at the box office while not even cracking the top 10 releases.
And some stars, like LGBTQ+ actress Ruby Rose, pointed out the elephant in the room.
“None of ‘the people’ want to see someone who hates them, parading around pretending to be us,” she wrote via Threads Tuesday. “You’re a cretin and you ruined the film. Period. Christy deserved better.”
The “Orange Is the New Black” star referred to Sweeney’s Monday statement that she played in the failed movie “not for the numbers” but instead for “the people” and the impact it would make.
“This film stands for survival, courage, and hope. Through our campaigns, we’ve helped raise awareness for so many affected by domestic violence. We all signed on to this film with the belief that Christy’s story could save lives,” Sweeney wrote in an Instagram post.
“If Christy gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded. So yes I’m proud. Why? Because we don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.”
But Rose made the point that Sweeney has positioned herself with a cultural identity associated with being anti-LGBTQ+ while promoting a story that represents the communities under attack.
President Donald Trump himself has used his second term to attack transgender rights while destroying programs that assist or study the LGBTQ+ community. And on the topic of domestic abuse, people closely tied to MAGA have sought to strip away the rights of women like voting.
“Good genes” by Clay Jones
In August, Sweeney—whether she originally intended to or not—aligned herself with Trump when she appeared in an AE ad bragging about her fantastic “jeans.” Critics said the ad appeared to promote white superiority coming from a blue-eyed, blonde white woman. But MAGA came to the actress’ defense.
And Trump, of course, was thrilled to find out he could publicly defend Sweeney since she was a “registered Republican.”
But her silence throughout the public discourse spoke more loudly than anything else. And with Sweeney’s latest GQ interview, she hasn’t helped her case.
On Nov. 4, Sweeney was asked about the debated ad campaign and if she wanted to comment on it once and for all.
“Is there something that you want to say about the ad itself?” GQ writer Katherine Stoeffel asked. “The criticism of the content was basically that, maybe specifically in this political climate, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority.”
“I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” was all Sweeney said.
