Los Angeles, 5 Nov

‘Euphoria’ actor Sydney Sweeney has spoken out against the backlash she received for her American Eagle jeans ad, saying the outrage didn't affect her as she won't let other people define who she is.

Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign featured the tagline "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," a pun around "great genes" which many deemed racist as people thought it was directed towards glorifying the actor's white heritage.

The Emmy nominee said she didn't put out a formal statement explaining her side of things in August, when the controversy broke, as she knows herself best.

"I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think...I know who I am. I know what I value. I know that I’m a kind person," Sweeney said in an interview with GQ magazine.

"I know that I love a lot, and I know that I’m just excited to see what happens next. And so I don’t really let other people define who I am," she added.

Speaking directly about the campaign and the subsequent backlash, Sweeney said that it was just work.

"I did a jean ad. 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… I knew at the end of the day what that ad was for, and it was great jeans, it didn’t affect me one way or the other," she said, adding that she just put her phone away on the set of ‘Euphoria’.

The ad blew up to the level that American president Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance weighed in calling out "liberals". Sweeney called that moment "surreal".

Sweeney is set to appear in the third and final season of ‘Euphoria’ and the film adaptation of ‘The Housemaid’ which also stars Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar.