Sharon Stone has defended Sydney Sweeney over the backlash she faced for an American Eagle jeans campaign, saying everyone is their own version of beautiful.
“It’s okay to use what mama gave you. It’s really fine,” Stone, 67, told Variety at the Power of Women LA event on Wednesday.
“It’s hard to be hot, and I think we all know that. It’s really okay to use every bit of hotness you have – right here, right now – and go for whatever that is. Everybody has their own certain kind of hotness, their own certain thing, and you’re supposed to go for that. Because who are you not to be beautiful? You know, who you are isn’t an accident.”
The White Lotus star’s American Eagle jeans campaign, released in 2024, drew intense scrutiny online with people comparing the phrase to the racist language of eugenicists, due to its wordplay on “jeans” and “genes”.
In the advert, Sweeney says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue."
While critics accused the ad of playing into the eugenic idea that some genetic qualities were better than others, the MAGA camp quickly came to Sweeney’s defence. US president Donald Trump praised the actor when he found out she was a registered Republican, writing on social media that she had “the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there”.
Sweeney herself has not made any comment on the controversy, shutting down questions on the divisive campaign at the September premiere of her latest film, Christy.
Stone added that she spoke with Sweeney about the controversy on the sets of Euphoria, where both actors were filming season three of the popular HBO series.
“Because I was co-godparents with Jane Goodall, I said, ‘When Jane was on the cover of Life Magazine for her work with gorillas, she was in her safari shorts and shirt, sitting with one of the animals that she was working with,” Stone said.
Dame Jane Goodall, who revolutionised the world’s understanding of animal behaviour, died after suffering cardiac arrest on 1 October. The much-loved zoologist, primatologist, and anthropologist championed chimpanzee protection for more than six decades, also becoming a tireless advocate of the wider natural world and the environment.
Stone continued: “Other scientists said, ‘Well, she only got the cover of Life Magazine because she had good legs.’ And Jane said, ‘Well, if I did, then that helped me get more money for my research.’
“Sydney said, ‘Yeah, and I’m sure I made a billion dollars for the jeans company, and I’m good with that. Because, you know what? I’ll get another job.’”
Sweeney’s Anyone But You costar Glen Powell also recently spoke up in support of the actor.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Powell was asked why no one in Hollywood defended the actor publicly.
“I think people weighed in on it,” Powell argued; however, interviewer Marina Hyde disagreed, saying Sweeney was left to “twist in the wind.”
“But I think people are aware that it’s bulls***,” Powell said.
Asked if he tries to avoid public discourse because it may distract from his work, Powell responded: “You can’t get caught up in it – it has nothing to do with you, it has to do with ad dollars. And, you know, there is no course-correcting. If something’s false, you’re not actually setting the record straight, you’re just feeding the beast. That’s why I don’t say s*** – just let it come, and let it go. Not feeding the beast and not trying to fight anything. I’ve realised the smart people in Hollywood don’t try to fight anything that has nothing to do with them.”
