Did Sydney Sweeney just bend the knee?
That is the debate that Megyn said has been going on behind the scenes at The Megyn Kelly Show this week, and it has been happening in many corners of the internet as well as the actress finally addressed her controversial American Eagle “good jeans” campaign with what could be viewed as an apology.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Andrew Klavan, author of After That, the Dark, to discuss Sweeney’s new comments in a new interview and why she ultimately caved to the pressure.
Sweeney’s Comments
In an interview with People magazine published last Friday, Sweeney spoke directly about the highly scrutinized denim campaign for the first time. “I was honestly surprised by the reaction,” she told the outlet. “I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand. I don’t support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign. Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”
People said Sweeney was finally “addressing the campaign backlash to clarify her stance and dispel negativity.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I’m always trying to bring people together. I’m against hate and divisiveness,” she said. “In the past my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press but recently I have come to realize that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it. So I hope this new year brings more focus on what connects us instead of what divides us.”
This new messaging comes one month after Sweeney brushed off critics in an interview with GQ. When the reporter asked Sweeney directly if she “was surprised by the reaction” to the American Eagle ad, she responded: “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.”
She was also asked about the left’s criticism of the campaign – “specifically, [that] in this political climate, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority ” – to which she replied: “I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.”
Why She ‘Cracked’
At the time, Megyn praised the Euphoria star for her “masterful” handling of the situation. But times have clearly changed. “We just had a debate on the show privately about whether that was her backtracking or bending the knee,” Megyn admitted. “I maintained it was, and my executive producer didn’t feel as harshly about it.”
“[But I believe] Hollywood, her agents, her PR people, the casting directors, the money men, the producers who actually could control her presence in a film, they got to her,” she added. “Because her messaging sounds very different.”
Klavan agreed and said the writing was, in many ways, on the wall. “She just was in two movies that tanked enormously and they got terrible reviews… and now she hasn’t got the power that she had before,” she explained. “She’s not riding on top of the world as she was before.”
You can blame the leftists in the entertainment industry for that, Klavan said. “Ultimately, Sydney Sweeney lives off the love of people, and people learn about her movies through reviews and through word of mouth,” he noted. “The left has incredible energy and incredible dedication to making sure that word of mouth does not spread in her favor.”
And that is why he believes she “cracked” under the pressure. “This is part of the profession that she is in, just like part of my profession is signing books or going out and chatting with people about my books,” Klavan concluded. “These are parts of the things that you do, and the left is dedicated to destroying you.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Klavan by tuning in to episode 1,210 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.