Lizzo is calling out Sydney Sweeney‘s controversial American Eagle jeans ad in a new song.
On Wednesday, the four-time Grammy winner released two clips from a track on social media that name-dropped Sweeney and referenced the viral ad.
In one video snippet for “I’m Goin’ In Till October” (below), Lizzo is clad in torn denim while hosing down a Porsche and raps, “No kizzy, he ain’t got no business being with me. Fat ass pretty face with the titties. Bitch, I got good jeans like I’m Sydney.” (Or perhaps that should be “genes”?).
In the second video, Lizzo opens with a clip of a cable news pundit doing a celebratory rant about the Sweeney ad, declaring, “We’re over this woke agenda. We are over the Lizzos, we are over the Dylan Mulvaneys. If this were a 300-pound non-binary person they would be applauding her.” Then the video cuts to Lizzo lounging in head-to-toe denim, similar to the Sweeney ad. Lizzo commented on the video, “Lizzo’s got good jeans.”
The messaging could be seen as a push-back on the Sweeney ad. But it could also be taken as a positive for the American Eagle campaign. The company tried to make the point in a statement on the controversy last week that the marketing effort was meant to be inclusive, and Lizzo adopting the “great jeans” tag for herself could be seen as a co-sign of it’s intended message. As company put it in its statement, “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
The campaign has been been perhaps the most controversial and talked-about marketing effort since — on the other side of the culture-war spectrum — trans activist Mulvaney did a brand endorsement for Bud Light in 2023. The Mulvaney deal was just an influencer partnership that went viral, however, while the Sweeney deal is a major ad campaign. Also, Bud Light’s sales tanked in the wake of the ad, while it’s not yet clear which direction American Eagle’s sales may have shifted. Sweeney’s other recent brand deals include Armani Beauty, Miu Miu, Laneige, HeyDude, Bai, Baskin Robbins and Ford.
The Lizzo song follows up on Trump swooning over the news that Sweeney registered as a Republican in Florida last year, telling reporters earlier this week, “Now I love her ad! … If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”
At the center of the controversy has been a clip that finds Sweeney saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.” The line inspired a heated debate with many online critics insisting the ad was a dog whistle promoting white supremacy.
Sweeney has not responded to the uproar. She next stars in the crime thriller Americana being released this month and in December’s highly anticipated adaption of the Freida McFadden bestseller The Housemaid.
