The first significant controversy emerged in 2022 following Sweeney’s social media posts from her mother’s 60th birthday party, which had a hoedown theme. The actor faced political criticism after her brother shared photos from the event, revealing guests sporting hats with the slogan “Make Sixty Great Again” and her father wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” shirt. Although questions arose, Sweeney quickly refuted the idea that the event had political undertones, addressing the situation on X. She stated, “You guys this is wild. An innocent celebration for my mom’s milestone 60th birthday has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention. Please stop making assumptions. Much love to everyone … and happy birthday mom!”

Despite her clarification, skepticism lingered, and Sweeney continued to face criticism online. Some users accused her of issuing a non-committal response, arguing she could have explicitly distanced herself from the views represented at the party. One user commented, “If Sydney disagreed with the Blue Lives Matter thing … ya’ll know she’s perfectly capable of saying something as simple as ‘Those are not my beliefs.’ But she’s not.” However, others defended Sweeney, noting she wasn’t responsible for her guests’ attire as her own outfit was devoid of any political insignia. Regardless, the expectation for her to address the controversy persisted.

Sadly for the actor, not everyone took her at her word, and she continued to be trolled over the party and its props. Several users even accused her of making a careful statement that didn’t say much at all, with one writing, “If Sydney disagreed with the Blue Lives Matter thing … ya’ll know she’s perfectly capable of saying something as simple as ‘Those are not my beliefs.’ But shes not” [sic]. Granted, not everyone agreed, with some pointing out that Sweeney wasn’t required to police other people’s outfits when her own ensemble was free of any kind of insignia or statements. Nevertheless, the sentiment that she could have said something to allay the controversy would become an issue several years down the line.

In a later discussion with The Wall Street Journal, Sweeney revisited the incident while reflecting on the varied public reactions to different situations, illustrating with the example of a candle named “Jacob Elordi’s Bathwater” inspired by a scene in “Saltburn.” She remarked, “It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting. They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.” Her anecdote highlighted the diverse reactions she encountered, although not everyone agreed with her perspective.

As 2025 unfolded, Sweeney continued to attract controversy, particularly when she attended the wedding of Lauren and Jeff Bezos in June, which again sparked criticism and debate surrounding her public image.

Sweeney would later address the controversy in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, telling the outlet that it had been inspired by the candle named “Jacob Elordi’s Bathwater,” which had been inspired by a very much NSFW scene in “Saltburn,” itself. Of the differences in reception each product got, Sweeney told the outlet, “It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting. They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.” Touche — but not everyone agreed.

2025 continued to be a very controversial year for Sydney Sweeney, and when she attended the wedding of Lauren and Jeff Bezos that June, many were quick to find fault with her. 

There were those who were critical of her being there full stop, with some expressing disappointment in her and any of the other stars who showed up amid major protests against the event in Venice, while others were confused as to why she was on the guest list in the first place. Then, there were those who believed her behavior at the wedding had been too “flirty.” In fairness to Sweeney, she was single at the time, so if she was being flirty with other singles there, that would have been fair game. However, there were also some who criticized her after sources claimed her attendance had caused serious issues between the newlyweds (even to the point of Bezos divorce rumors). 

By July 1, sources had spoken to Page Six about why Sweeney was there, and though they admitted she wasn’t actually close with either Jeff or Lauren, they explained that it had been work-related. After all, Sweeney was involved in Amazon MGM Studios both as an actor and producer. As such, the insider said that Sweeney “came to pay respects to the ‘boss,’ just like in the old days of Hollywood.” Unfortunately, the fact that Jeff was also an investor in Sweeney’s lingerie line didn’t exactly help the rumors about her attendance causing tension between him and his bride. Speaking to Rob Shuter, a source claimed, “Lauren didn’t realize just how involved Jeff was in this. It’s … awkward.” Lauren did attend Sweeney’s birthday party a few months later, though, so perhaps things weren’t that tense after all.

Sydney Sweeney has said in the past that she’s committed to getting her bag to pay her bills, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2022, “If I just acted, I wouldn’t be able to afford my life in L.A. I take deals because I have to.” With that in mind, it’s not surprising that she worked with American Eagle in 2025. Sadly for the actor, however, the campaign was poorly received (and that’s putting it lightly).  

By now, we’ve all seen the campaign, which saw Sweeney talk about her jeans and genes interchangeably. “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” she said in the most controversial ad from the campaign (via Creative First). The backlash was swift, with some saying the talk about genes felt like the brand — and thus Sweeney — were promoting eugenics and even white supremacy. 

American Eagle released a statement soon after, saying the premise “is and always was about the jeans.” Many still weren’t satisfied, though, and the scrutiny only intensified as Sweeney herself opted not to say anything. She eventually did address it in an interview with GQ … though that wasn’t particularly well-received either. After laughing that she’d done a jeans ad simply because she loved jeans in her day-to-day life, Sweeney made it clear she didn’t want to address the commentary. “I think that when I have an issue that I wanna speak about, people will hear,” she said. The actor was probably trying to avoid further controversy, but it’s safe to say that backfired. As one Instagram commenter wrote, “So there was an opportunity to clearly state ‘to clarify I am not a white supremacist’ and she just … chose not to.”

After years of speculation following her mom’s 60th birthday party, in August 2025, Sydney Sweeney’s official political affiliation was made public. This, after records of her having registered as a Republican in Florida the previous July began doing the rounds on social media. The Guardian and other news publications confirmed the records were legit, and once again, major controversy ensued. To be clear, everyone is entitled to vote for who they want. However, many were also quick to point out that Sweeney had only registered after Donald Trump was found guilty in the hush-money trial. 

Unsurprisingly, Trump was thrilled to learn she was a Republican, and in addition to making creepy comments about her ad, Trump went on a Truth Social rant about Sweeney and how successful she was. 

Sweeney addressed the president’s comments about her during her GQ interview (though, as with her response to the criticism, she kept things fairly vague). “It was surreal,” she said. Asked whether she felt any gratitude towards the president for supporting her so publicly, she added, “It’s not that that feeling didn’t, I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that. Or, like, any of it. I kind of just put my phone away.” Surprisingly, the president didn’t respond to the actor’s subtle distancing. Nor, for that matter, did he weigh in after she spoke with Cosmopolitan in early 2026 and distance herself from the pervasive commentary about her and her political beliefs. “It’s definitely not a comfortable thing to have people saying what you believe or think, especially when that doesn’t align with you. … It’s not me. None of it is me,” she told the outlet. Even so, she added that she wouldn’t say anything more explicitly because she didn’t want to talk about politics. 

It bears mentioning that even after her Cosmopolitan interview, many continued to criticize Sydney Sweeney — particularly because of her statement that she wasn’t “a political person.” However, things ramped up in a spectacular way in April 2026, when Sweeney once again collaborated with American Eagle, this time with a cheeky reference to the furor just a few months prior. 

“What brand am I wearing? Yeah … that one,” she says in the ad, effectively laughing off the matter. However, as social media showed, not everyone was ready to joke about it. “Imagine creating a campaign … That doubles down on your culturally offensive previous campaign … shame on the entire team for not listening to the audience. Embarrassing. And that’s why comments are just tagging the competition,” wrote one Instagram commenter. Sure enough, another wrote, “Will be buying @gap jeans for the rest of my f***ing life.” Still more mused that the ad wasn’t particularly amusing, either. “Not the satire … they wanted it to be bc racism isn’t funny,” wrote one person. 

Unfortunately for Sweeney, it seems unlikely her rep will be rehabbed anytime in the near future, and much of that comes down to her unwillingness to address all the rumors about her directly. However, there’s a chance she’s accepted that. After all, as she pointed out in her Cosmopolitan interview, “If I say, ‘That’s not true,’ they’ll come at me like, ‘You’re just saying that to look better.’ There’s no winning. There’s never any winning. I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am. I can’t make everyone love me. I know what I stand for,” she said. Sweeney’s rep may have taken a knock, but she seems to be fine with that.