Sydney Sweeney Explains Why She Has Stayed Silent as Right-Wing Fans Embrace Her

Sydney Sweeney has explained why she has largely avoided speaking publicly after being embraced by right-wing commentators and labeled “MAGA Barbie” online.

In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, the Euphoria star said she does not want politics to define her career.

“I’ve never been here to talk about politics,” Sweeney said. “I’ve always been here to make art. This is not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of.”

Sweeney said that by staying out of political debates, some people have tried to assign views to her that she does not control. “People want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn,” she said. “It’s somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that.”

The actress became a frequent topic in conservative media after a jeans campaign for American Eagle was accused online of promoting extremist ideas, based on wordplay and imagery highlighting her blond hair and blue eyes. The brand and Sweeney did not initially respond to those claims.

Fox News devoted extensive coverage to defending Sweeney and criticizing the backlash. Several Republican figures, including Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Ted Cruz, also weighed in. No prominent Democratic lawmakers publicly engaged with the controversy.

After reports surfaced that Sweeney was a registered Republican, Trump praised the ad on social media. Sweeney herself did not comment at the time and appeared indifferent to the political debate surrounding the campaign.

About a month later, she addressed the issue briefly in an interview with People, saying, “Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true,” and adding that she is “against hate and divisiveness.”

In her latest interview, Sweeney said she still has not found a way to respond that feels productive. “If I say, ‘That’s not true,’ they’ll come at me like, ‘You’re just saying that to look better,’” she said. “There’s no winning.”

She said she plans to stay focused on her work rather than internet narratives. “I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am,” she said. “I can’t make everyone love me.”

Sweeney again declined to discuss her personal politics in detail, stressing that she does not see herself as a political figure. “I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts,” she said. “I don’t believe in hate in any form. I believe we should all love each other and have respect and understanding for one another.”

She also pushed back on the idea that she has control over how she is portrayed online. “People underestimate my strengths,” she said, “but they overestimate how much control I have over a narrative.”