Actress Sydney Sweeney has confirmed she will not address the controversy surrounding her American Eagle ad campaign at the Toronto International Film Festival. Sweeney is attending the festival for the premiere of her new boxing film, Christy, and stated her focus is entirely on the movie and its creative team. "I'm not there to talk about jeans," she told Vanity Fair.

The backlash erupted over the campaign's slogan, "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," a pun on "good genes". In one of the now-pulled ads, Sweeney stated, "My body's composition is determined by my genes," followed by a wink. Critics, largely from the American liberal Left, accused the ad of promoting racially charged language connected to White supremacist ideas and eugenics.

The fierce online debate caused American Eagle's stock to jump 19% in pre-market trading. While Sweeney has made no public statements about the criticism, American Eagle issued a response on August 1, insisting the campaign "is and always was about the jeans". The actress continues to pivot attention back to her upcoming film premiere.