Sydney Sweeney Addresses “MAGA Barbie” Label

Sydney Sweeney doesn’t want to be a “pawn” in any political debates. During a Jan. 29 cover story with Cosmopolitan, the Housemaid actor opened up about being mistakenly labeled as a “MAGA Barbie” and explained why she hasn’t tried to correct the narrative.

In July 2025, Sweeney got into some controversy after starring in a “good jeans” ad for American Eagle, which played on the connection between the homophones “jeans” and “genes.” The ad went viral for all the wrong reasons, as the word play seemed to reference eugenics. In August, President Trump and Vice President Vance spoke out in support of Sweeney. The actor previously said that the intended meaning behind the ad was not so politically charged — in November, she clarified that the campaign was simply about denim — but the label stuck anyway.

Speaking to Cosmo, Sweeney gave more insight into how she feels about her reputation. “I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,” she said. “And I think because of that, people want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn. But it’s somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that.”

“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 been a weird thing having to navigate and digest, because it’s not me. None of it is me,” Sweeney added.

According to Sweeney, she has not denied the “MAGA Barbie” nickname because she considers it a losing battle. “I haven’t figured it out. I’m not a hateful person. 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,” she said. “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.”