Sydney Sweeney has again addressed her American Eagle jeans advertisement, telling People that she was surprised by the reaction.

The July campaign, called ‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’, became embroiled in controversy after some social media users alleged that the pun on “jeans” and “genes” being part of an advertising campaign with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed white woman promoted eugenics and white supremacy.

Sweeney first addressed the situation last month, telling GQ that she hadn’t intended to put out a statement explaining or defending the campaign because “I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think,” and she’s now said that she doesn’t “support the views some people chose to connect to the campaign”.

“I did it because I love the jeans and love the brand,” she said, adding, “Many have assigned motives and labels to me that just aren’t true.”

At the time, a number of prominent figures weighed in, including White House communications director Steven Cheung, Vice President JD Vance, and even President Donald Trump himself, who was asked about the campaign amid claims that Sweeney was a registered Republican.

“She’s a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad!” he said. “You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans … If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!”

And American Eagle defended the ad too. On Instagram, the brand wrote, “’Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. 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.”

Sweeney told People that she “leads with kindness” and decided to address the controversy to clarify her stance. “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 realise 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.”

It comes a month after she told GQ, “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 responded.

A few weeks before, she shut down the discussion in an interview with Vanity Fair. Speaking about the Toronto International Film Festival, where she was promoting her movie Christy, she said: “I am there to support my movie and the people involved in making it, and I’m not there to talk about jeans.”

Christy, a biopic which saw Sweeney portray former professional boxer Christy Martin on her journey to becoming the most famous female boxer in the US in the 1990s, and then her coach-turned-husband’s attempted murder of her in 2010, failed to break into the top 10 at the box office in its opening weekend last month.

Reviews described it as a “cliched boxing biopic” and “so rote that even an A.I. wouldn’t dare try to pass it off as original,” but Sweeney defended it on Instagram.

She wrote that she was “proud to represent someone as strong and resilient as Christy Martin,” adding: “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact.”

The Euphoria star’s next film, The Housemaid, is set for release on December 19 in the US and December 22 in the UK. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Freida McFadden, it sees Sweeney play a live-in housemaid for a wealthy couple, played by Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar, and their family. Things start to unravel, however, when she realises that their home hides some dark secrets.

Sweeney said of working with Seyfried: “One that is special to me was the time Amanda crocheted me this bag that is now my favourite bag ever. She would crochet on set all the time and she had made her own really cute bags, so when we wrapped she made me one.

“We both are similar in we always are giving positive energy to everyone, cast and crew,” she added. “But most of all just having fun.”