Sydney Sweeney addresses 'MAGA Barbie' jibes after American Eagle furor as she strips down for racy shoot

Sydney Sweeney hit back against being pigeonholed as a 'MAGA Barbie,' months after her American Eagle campaign made her a lightning rod of political controversy.

Last summer she starred in a viral ad for the brand's jeans, which provoked a social media meltdown as frenzied critics compared it to 'Nazi propaganda' for playing on the phrase 'good genes' with a blonde, blue-eyed star. 

In the wake of the furor, reports emerged that Sweeney was a registered Republican, prompting howls of condemnation from left-leaning fans while US President Donald Trump joked: 'Now I love her ad.' 

By December she attracted hoots of derision over a talk-show appearance in which her makeover had given her a distinct resemblance to a retro Fox News hostess.

Now she has opened a new door in her career by launching her lingerie brand SYRN, which she has been promoting with a string of sizzling new underwear shoots.

She showed off her world-famous cleavage in a lace-trim bra on the cover of Cosmopolitan this week, and inside the magazine she appeared topless while sharing her view of the way the public has characterized her politically.

'I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,' she insisted.

'And I think because of that, people want to take it even further and use me as their own pawn,' said the actress, who has been tagged by some as a refreshing antidote to political correctness and by others as a pernicious right-wing influence. 

The way she has been described in partisan terms is 'somebody else assigning something to me, and I can’t control that,' Sweeney said.

When she was asked why she refuses to straighten out the record if she feels she is being falsely portrayed, she replied: 'I haven’t figured it out. I’m not a hateful person. If I say: “That’s not true,” they’ll come at me like: “You’re just saying that to look better.” There’s no winning. There’s never any winning.'

She maintained: 'I just have to continue being who I am, because I know who I am. I can’t make everyone love me. I know what I stand for.'

One of her personal adages is that she has 'always led with love. I’ve always believed that love is love in every single form. You should be kind to whoever you meet.'

She shared: 'I remember on the set of Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, I watched Brad Pitt sit and hang out with the transpo department. I absolutely loved that, and I was like: "Yeah, you have to respect everybody in your life."'

Meanwhile she maintained that she has no intention of changing her mind and breaking her silence on the subject of her political convictions. 

'I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics. That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into,' she said.

'It’s not why I became who I am. I became an actor because I like to tell stories, but I don’t believe in hate in any form. I believe we should all love each other and have respect and understanding for one another,' said the Euphoria actress.

'It’s definitely not a comfortable thing to have people saying what you believe or think, especially when that doesn’t align with you. It's been a weird thing having to navigate and digest, because it’s not me. None of it is me. And I’m having to watch it happen.'

Sweeney revealed: 'I’m online and I see things, but I’m slowly pulling myself away. It’s definitely gone to a level where it’s just not healthy for me to digest it all.'

She decried the perception that 'I’m a hateful person' and noted that she is in favor of abortion rights, arguing that 'a woman has the right to decide.' 

Her American Eagle ad, entitled Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes, showed its star buttoning up a set of denim trousers and offering a playful pun on the word 'genes.'

'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color...my jeans are blue,' Sweeney said.

The campaign was met with an explosion of controversy upon its launch in July, as social media users feverishly accused it of being racist and flirting with eugenics in light of its star's blonde-haired, azure-eyed appearance.

Other viewers leapt to the pinup's defense, calling the blowback 'unhinged' and saying opponents of the ad were 'reading too much into this.'

The subsequent reports that she had registered as a Republican in Florida only poured fuel on the fire, as fans of differing political persuasions leapt to the barricades to either denounce or exult in what they perceived to be her views.

In November, when she was asked if she wanted to respond to allegations that the American Eagle ad was promoting ideas of 'genetic superiority,' she said: 'I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,' via GQ.

She was hailed by her admirers on social media for retaining her cool under pressure and refusing to be cornered into a political conversation.

Last month she came in for online mockery when she went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon looking like a Fox News blonde from the early 2000s.

The White Lotus bombshell, who often shows off her amply endowed cleavage, was more conservatively attired for her Tonight Show appearance in a long high-necked scarlet dress with full sleeves and prominent shoulder pads.

Her bob was straightened out to a metallic sleekness and her youthful features were cocooned in heavy makeup including dark lipstick, bringing together a look that left one fan sniggering: 'The Mar A Lago transition is almost complete.'

'Home girl looking more republican not the bob,' remarked one as others slyly wrote that she was 'getting ready for her fox news debut' and 'leaning into it.'

Still another quipped on X, formerly Twitter: 'someone must conduct a study on how and why sydney sweeney is slowly shifting her aesthetic to fox news host.' 

One more wondered: 'why is she being styled like a 45yo republican?' as another snorted: 'Is she auditioning for Fox News? Lol.'