Jeans vs. Jeans

Denim Drama: The Political Battle for Your Butt Continues

How Beyonce x Levi’s and Sydney Sweeney x American Eagle Outfitters sparked political debate — and boosted stock prices for both brands

By Oscar Hartzog

Oscar Hartzog

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August 7, 2025

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Levi's/American Eagle Outfitters

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Political drama has entered the denim world, with Sydney Sweeney and Beyoncé at the center of it all.

Controversy ignited when American Eagle Outfitters released its “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” campaign, whose ads saw the blond-haired, blue-eyed actress reading the copy, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” Many, including celebrities like Lizzo, were quick to point out the campaign’s overtones of white supremacy and eugenics. Others on the right appeared to celebrate the same messaging as “the death of woke.”

President Donald Trump was among the latter group, praising the campaign after learning that Sweeney is registered as a Republican in her home state of Florida. “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” he wrote on Truth Social.

The denim war developed this week when conservative pundit Megyn Kelly bizarrely positioned a new Beyoncé x Levi’s campaign as “the opposite of the Sydney Sweeney ad.” The Beyoncé x Levi’s imagery sees the 35-time Grammy winner in denim-on-denim with blond hair. “Quite clearly there is nothing natural about Beyoncé. Everything – from her image to her fame to her success to her look below – is bought and paid for,” wrote Kelly in an X post. “Screams artificial, fake, enhanced, trying too hard.”

This is the opposite of the Sydney Sweeney ad. Quite clearly there is nothing natural about Beyonce. Everything – from her image to her fame to her success to her look below – is bought and paid for. Screams artificial, fake, enhanced, trying too hard. https://t.co/sQXijTgrJn

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) August 5, 2025

Piers Morgan joined in criticizing Beyoncé’s Levi’s campaign, writing that Beyoncé’s blonde hairstyle is a cultural appropriation of Marilyn Monroe (who was, in fact, a white person, not a culture).

But, from the perspective of Levi’s and American Eagle’s stockholders, the Denim Drama is an example of “all publicity is good publicity.” Levi Strauss & Co. is up almost 7% over the last five days, while American Eagle Outfitters Inc. has soared over 18% in the same period. Search interest, however, tells a different story: Searches for American Eagle have plummeted 57% since the height of the Sydney Sweeney controversy, while searches for Levi’s have been relatively unchanged (Google Trends). The online quips continue, with Lizzo rapping, “Bitch, I got good jeans like I’m Sydney,” in a teaser for a new song, and Sydney Sweeney’s brother even (sort of) jumping into the fray with a photo of his Air Force promotion captioned “It’s them good jeans 🥸.”

The good news is that Beyoncé’s new Levi’s collection is still in stock — and still very cool. Shop the full collection at Levi.com. American Eagle, meanwhile, is running a sale on its Sydney Sweeney jeans.