Sydney Sweeney is finally ready to talk about it.

The "Euphoria" star, 28, spoke with GQ about the elephant in the room during her "Christy" press tour: the chatter surrounding her controversial American Eagle jeans ad, which sparked backlash over the summer as critics accused it of being tone deaf and offensive. There was so much discussion about the ad that even President Donald Trump weighed in.

"I did a jean ad," Sweeney told GQ. "I mean, the reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans. All I wear are jeans. I'm literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life."

The "Christy" actress went on to say it was "surreal" to see the president and vice president of the United States commenting on her ad, while noting that much of the chatter didn't make its way to her.

"I kind of just put my phone away," she said. "I was filming every day. I'm filming 'Euphoria,' so I'm working 16-hour days and I don't really bring my phone on set, so I work and then I go home and I go to sleep. So I didn't really see a lot of it."

Sweeney declined to defend the content of the ad itself, telling GQ that "when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear." But she said that she "knew at the end of the day what that ad was for, and it was great jeans," so the situation "didn't affect me one way or the other."

Sweeney's ad, released in July, played on the pun of "genes" and "jeans" being homophones, featuring the Emmy-nominated actress clad in denim as she says, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color." The commercial then proclaims that Sweeney "has great jeans."

Critics took issue with the idea of Sweeney, a conventionally attractive white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, being used as the archetype of "good genes."

"Something about an ad sexualising a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes while commenting that she has great 'jeans' feels extremely conservative especially in this political climate," one X post, which drew over 200,000 likes, read.

Others jumped to Sweeney's defense and mocked the backlash to the ad, including members of the Trump administration and the president himself.

"My political advice to the Democrats is continue to (call) everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi," Vice President JD Vance joked on the conservative "Ruthless" podcast. Trump, meanwhile, praised Sweeney on Truth Social for having the "'HOTTEST' ad out there," adding, "Go get 'em Sydney!"

But Sweeney remained silent on the controversy while it was happening and refrained from commenting on the backlash until her GQ interview months later. The comments come as Sweeney promotes her Oscar hopeful "Christy," which sees her take on the role of professional boxer Christy Martin.

In September, Sweeney told Vanity Fair she would not be discussing the American Eagle ad while promoting "Christy" at the Toronto International Film Festival. "I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I'm not there to talk about jeans," she said. "The movie's about Christy, and that's what I’ll be there to talk about."

American Eagle previously addressed the ad backlash in a brief statement shared on its social media in August. "'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans," the company said. "Her jeans. Her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone."

American Eagle Outfitters CEO Jay Schottenstein more recently defended the ad, and the decision not to pull it due to the backlash, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "You can't run from fear," he told the outlet. "We stand behind what we did."

Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sydney Sweeney breaks silence on American Eagle jeans ad backlash

Reporting by Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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