Sydney Sweeney has ended her brief silence on social media, returning to Instagram to shift attention back to her work after recent controversy surrounding her latest ad campaign.
The 27-year-old actress, best known for her roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus, posted on Wednesday, August 13, to promote her upcoming film Americana.
In her post, Sweeney shared a series of behind-the-scenes images from the set, the first of which featured her in character as Penny Jo Poplin. She accompanied the photos with a simple caption: “A few years ago I filmed this little movie with some friends and now you get to meet penny jo [...].”
The update comes after weeks of online debate over her collaboration with American Eagle. As previously reported, the denim campaign, which launched late last month, featured the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” While intended as a lighthearted pun, the wordplay sparked criticism, with some social media users arguing that the “jeans/genes” connection could be interpreted as a reference to genetic traits, raising accusations of racial insensitivity.
Others accused the brand of appealing to the male gaze, drawing comparisons to Brooke Shields’ infamous 1980 Calvin Klein campaign, which caused controversy for its provocative tagline and the fact that Shields was only 15 at the time.
However, many others defended the ad, saying the backlash was exaggerated and that the criticism was reading too deeply into an innocent marketing choice.
Amid the mounting discourse, American Eagle released a statement on August 1 via Instagram, clarifying the intent behind the campaign. “’Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” the post read. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Two days later, on August 3, Sweeney made her first public appearance since the controversy, attending a screening of Americana in Los Angeles. The film, directed by Tony Tost, features a diverse ensemble cast including Halsey, Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Eric Dane, and Zahn McClarnon.
Set in a small South Dakota town, Americana follows the fallout after a rare and culturally significant Lakota “ghost shirt” enters the black market. The relic’s appearance triggers a chain of events that entangles a local woman and her young son with an eccentric diner waitress, a troubled military veteran, and a corrupt antiquities dealer. Tensions escalate further when an Indigenous leader and his crew join the struggle, determined to reclaim the sacred artifact and restore it to its rightful place.
Described as a “modern-day Western” that blends crime, drama, and dark humor, the film promises high stakes and a colorful mix of characters. With Sweeney now redirecting attention to the project, Americana may offer audiences and fans alike a chance to focus less on controversy and more on her growing body of work.