Earlier this month, Sydney Sweeney grew to become the most well-liked meme on X, as right-wing customers rallied round screenshots of the actress from an interview she did with GQ. The meme remains to be chugging alongside on the social media platform, used as a response picture to touch upon political points within the U.S., and it’s simply the most recent instance of a viral second adopted by extremists on-line.
Sweeney’s picture has been run up the social media flagpole by just about each right-wing person. Her expression, certainly her total existence, is meant to be interpreted now on-line as a reactionary refusal to apologize for holding right-wing views. Extra rationalization isn’t mandatory, and her face is meant to easily inform the entire story from their perspective.
It’s not unusual for characters in widespread media to grow to be symbols who require no extra rationalization. The far proper has accomplished it time and again with cultural figures like actor/director Mel Gibson. The query in Sweeney’s case appears to be whether or not that was actually her intention and what meaning for the way forward for her profession.
Christy bombs
It began when Sweeney sat down with GQ’s Kat Stoeffel for a video interview that was printed on-line on November 4. Sweeney was selling her new film, Christy, in regards to the boxer Christy Martin. The movie has struggled to discover a footing in theaters, taking in simply $1.3 million domestically on a finances of $15 million.
The interview covers subjects like Sweeney’s introduction to martial arts at 12 years outdated and the themes of Christy, together with the home violence and homophobia confronted by the real-life boxer. Sweeney was additionally requested about her non-public life, having not too long ago damaged off an engagement, earlier than Stoeffel inquired in regards to the controversy surrounding an advert marketing campaign for American Eagle that she did back in July.
One advert options Sweeney discussing “genes” being handed down from era to era. The advert, which has a voiceover that claims “Sydney Sweeney has good denims,” induced some folks on-line to see a message rooted in eugenics and white supremacy. Some went as far as to name it “Nazi propaganda.”
The advert was embraced by right-wing influencers over the summer season, and President Donald Trump even chimed in. However that was solely after Sweeney’s political affiliation grew to become public in the course of the center of the media storm.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ advert on the market. It’s for American Eagle, and the denims are ‘flying off the cabinets.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” Trump wrote on Fact Social in August.
Trump was apparently reacting to information that Sweeney had registered in Florida as a Republican in June 2024, in line with the Guardian, in the course of the lead-up to the presidential election in November. It appeared Trump was sufficiently satisfied that Sweeney was a fan.
All of that’s the backdrop to what would come earlier this month when folks may watch Sweeney’s interview, the primary time she was requested instantly in regards to the American Eagle advert and whether or not she wished to say something in regards to the controversy.
‘I did a jean advert’
“We’re form of speaking round this American Eagle advert proper now, and possibly we must always simply speak about it,” Stoeffel stated in the course of the interview after hinting on the controversy. “So had been you shocked by the response?”
“I did a jean advert,” Sweeney stated. “I imply, the response undoubtedly was a shock, however I like denims. All I put on are denims. I’m actually in denims and a t-shirt, like each day of my life.”
Stoeffel jokingly stated that denims are “uncontroversial” and “superior,” however adopted up as any regular journalist would, to level out that the president himself had tweeted about her and he or she wished to ask about that “loopy second.”
Sweeney stated it was “surreal,” with out elaborating. Pressed once more, Sweeney stated that she didn’t actually take note of media consideration like that as a result of she’s working 16-hour days filming and doesn’t deliver her telephone on set.
“You’ve made a extremely good case for protecting your ideas and your life separate from that work. However the threat is that, you understand, there’s an opportunity that anyone will get some concept about what you consider sure points and really feel like I don’t need to see Christy due to that. Like, do you are worried about that?” requested Stoeffel.
Sweeney stated that she hoped that if somebody grew to become closed off to the message of Christy, she hoped one thing may “open their eyes to being open to artwork and being open to studying.” Stoeffel particularly talked about the “good denims” advert, asking if there was something she wished to say about it. Sweeney replied that “the advert spoke for itself.”
“You suppose the advert spoke for itself. And the criticism of the content material, which was mainly that possibly particularly on this political local weather, like ‘white folks shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority.’ Like that was sort of just like the criticism, broadly talking. And since you’re speaking about this, I simply wished to provide you a chance to speak about that particularly,” stated Stoeffel.
Sweeney replied, “I feel that when I’ve a difficulty that I need to discuss, folks will hear.”
And with that, a meme was born.
‘Whole aesthetic victory’
Lulu Cheng Meservey, a PR skilled who’s labored with Activision Blizzard, Substack, and Palmer Luckey’s Anduril, engaged within the dialogue about Sweeney’s interview on X, describing her efficiency as “immaculate dealing with.”
“Most individuals outdated react defensively, get offended, or take the bait. What she did right here was nice,” wrote Meservey.
“1) Rejects the asinine premise, which was a setup to agree that the advert had something to do with white supremacy 2) Takes a deliberate pause as a substitute of utilizing filler phrases (weak) or saying one thing to remorse later 3) No seen emotion, maintains composure however shuts down the subject whereas leaving a swish exit.”
Meservey wrote in one other tweet that it was a “whole aesthetic victory.” She described Stoeffel as having a “simpering smile” in addition to an “unctuous toady hiding a knife behind his again.”
Evaluate:
the topic’s impartial half-lidded gaze, crammed with bored detachment and a touch of disdain
vs
the interviewer’s simpering smile and wheedling tone, evoking an unctuous toady hiding a knife behind his again
It’s a complete aesthetic victory pic.twitter.com/bL8qsqkkJu
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) November 6, 2025
Meservey is taken very critically in Silicon Valley as somebody who advocates for a “go direct” messaging marketing campaign. Her “Go Direct Manifesto,” printed on Substack in 2024, declared that conventional PR was lifeless and folks shouldn’t depend on intermediaries.
Meservey, who didn’t reply to a request for remark, appears to suppose Sweeney performed this interview completely, with the actress refusing to just accept what Meservey calls an “asinine premise,” and never utilizing filler phrases, which she calls weak. She additionally wrote that Sweeney was deliberate sufficient in her alternative of phrases that she didn’t say one thing she would remorse later.
Curiously, Meservey stated in April on the “How I Write” podcast that utilizing filler phrases was a approach to sound extra genuine. And he or she additionally advised that it was vital to only throw out as a lot genuine content material as potential, even when it meant alienating some folks a small proportion of the time. She gave Elon Musk as a optimistic instance. However placing the inconsistency of her recommendation apart, it’s unclear if Sweeney truly achieved what she got down to accomplish with this technique in the course of the interview, as Meservey appears to imagine.
In one other tweet, Meservey retweeted Paul Graham, the pc scientist and co-founder of Y Combinator. Graham wrote that the screenshot of Stoeffel confirmed the “eyebrow equal of uptalking.” And Meservey went even additional together with her observations.
“Perfidious physiognomy,” Meservey tweeted, claiming that Stoeffel was untrustworthy. “By no means divulge heart’s contents to somebody who seems to be at you want this.”
Perfidious physiognomy
By no means divulge heart’s contents to somebody who seems to be at you want this https://t.co/XtNP9MAbrM
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) November 7, 2025
Physiognomy is a pseudoscience, widespread within the 18th and nineteenth centuries, that claims you possibly can decide somebody’s character from issues like the form of their head or face. It has extraordinarily racist origins, as you possibly can in all probability guess, so it’s no shock that one other X person tried to one-up Meservey‘s tweet by throwing a racial slur in opposition to Chinese language folks at her.
Clearly, regular folks aren’t speaking about issues like physiognomy each day. Most Individuals in all probability do not know what it even means. However the phrase is so common on X at this level that throwing out a declare like this—that you could’t belief a given reporter due to her bodily traits—is simply par for the course. And tech founders are stewing on this rubbish each day as they’re scrolling by means of X.
The memes are inescapable on X
What occurred subsequent was an awesome flood of memes that includes Sweeney. She was the hero on this meme, to make certain, a minimum of to the individuals who had been utilizing it. However she was a hero to a number of the most excessive far-right voices on X.
One account wrote, “this template goes to do hiroshima stage psychological harm to chopped libtard foids,” utilizing dehumanizing slang that’s imagined to be a shortened type of “feminine humanoid” which emerged in incel forums. That tweet garnered 1.5 million views and was typical of the angle of the folks utilizing it on X.
this template goes to do hiroshima stage psychological harm to chopped libtard foids pic.twitter.com/2BYVNaNP0p
— F.A. Gigioti (@FaGigioti) November 6, 2025
One acronym hooked up to a screenshot of Sweeney among the many most far-right voices was WAGTFKY, which stands for We Are Going to Fucking Kill You. It seems to have been first utilized in memes about JD Vance and infrequently has xenophobic and racist connotations.
https://t.co/Ln0a2qgN3l pic.twitter.com/J9lITSIiKL
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) November 7, 2025
Silicon Valley’s most internet-poisoned founders additionally embraced the Sweeney memes, together with Marc Andreessen, who began posting a screenshot of Stoeffel over nearly every part he didn’t like.
Andreessen even quote-tweeted one thing from Pope Leo, who had despatched out a message imploring folks to take care of a way of morality whereas creating AI. That was one step too far, even for some right-wing tech guys, and Andreessen deleted his tweets in disgrace.
X proprietor Elon Musk additionally acquired concerned with the meme, as he typically does, utilizing Grok to animate the screenshot of Sweeney in an extremely awkward method.
Musk wrote, “I feel Sydney was making an attempt to say this to the interviewer,” and included a video the place Sweeney is made to say, “You’re so cringe.” The AI Sweeney makes a perplexing hand gesture, and the video was, itself, cringe.
I feel Sydney was making an attempt to say this to the interviewer: pic.twitter.com/Ey66K1uVlD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2025
Two right-wing influencers, Matt Walsh and James Lindsay, had a spat on X final week, during which they only began sending photographs of Stoeffel and Sweeney forwards and backwards.
— James Lindsay, anti-Communist (@ConceptualJames) November 13, 2025
It appeared to seize completely simply how shallow the mental debate appears on X as of late. Ultimately, each spat between these of us devolves into “I’m rubber, you’re glue” schoolyard taunts.
One other right-wing account appeared to make a optimistic comparability to Sweeney and a Nazi character in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 movie Inglourious Basterds.
I’ve seen this look earlier than and it is superior!💯 https://t.co/adz3OTQYSi pic.twitter.com/F8YyMXxxAl
— Cringe Panda 🌟✨Astra Jobriath ✨🌟 (@cringe_panda) November 6, 2025
Sweeney’s face had totally remodeled right into a response that wanted no additional rationalization. One widespread tweet put it this way: “the way in which they’ve made her the face of bigotry.” That was a quote-tweet about somebody who had merely tweeted “respect trans folks.”
That account was attacked with loads of the identical anti-trans bigotry that’s grow to be so widespread on X after Elon Musk modified the platform’s guidelines in opposition to hate. However there was an added twist to most of the feedback. They merely used photographs from the Sydney Sweeney interview now. No slurs required.
No https://t.co/MOuhJJeHZj pic.twitter.com/jhVm3zDSLT
— MaryCate Delvey (@marycatedelvey) November 7, 2025
The opposite aspect
It wasn’t simply the web mobs who acquired riled up by Sweeney’s angle throughout advertising for Christy, although admittedly, on the opposite aspect of the problem politically. A few of her friends appeared disturbed by it as nicely. Actress Ruby Rose, who wrote on Threads that she had been hooked up to play the character Cherry sooner or later, was annoyed that Sweeney wasn’t from the LGBTQ+ neighborhood however was enjoying a homosexual character.
“For her PR to speak about it flopping and saying [Sydney Sweeney] did it for the ‘folks’. None of ‘the folks’ need to see somebody who hates them, parading round pretending to be us. You’re a cretin and also you ruined the movie. Interval. Christy deserved higher,” Rose wrote.
The one factor we are able to actually say definitively about Sweeney’s private politics is that she registered as a Republican at a time when being a Republican usually means supporting Donald Trump. The remainder of her political beliefs largely must be made by inference.
For instance, Sweeney acquired a bit of warmth just a few years in the past after photographs surfaced from her mother’s birthday celebration in 2022, the place company donned MAGA-style hats that stated “Make Sixty Nice Once more.” Followers thought it was a message endorsing Trump. However Sweeney stated on the time that the incident had been misinterpreted.
“There have been so many misinterpretations,” Sweeney advised Variety in 2023. “The folks within the photos weren’t even my household. The individuals who introduced the issues that folks had been upset about had been truly my mother’s pals from L.A. who’ve children which might be strolling outdoors within the Pleasure parade, and so they thought it will be humorous to put on as a result of they had been coming to Idaho.”
However many individuals are nonetheless confused right here, a few years later.
The place do they go from right here?
Sweeney wasn’t simply an actress on Christy but additionally a producer. And he or she appears to choose tasks that wouldn’t essentially be according to a Trumpian worldview. Which is why followers are seemingly scratching their heads about what her precise views are, particularly within the wake of the American Eagle advert and the GQ interview. And in a vacuum of any precise beliefs that the typical American would possibly be capable of grasp, the right-wing trolls of X are joyful to embrace her as their very own.
Taylor Swift truly skilled one thing related a decade in the past, when white supremacists latched on to her as a supposed instance of Aryan superiority. One viral photograph, taken out of context, confirmed her together with her arm prolonged, showing to provide a Nazi-like salute, regardless that it’s fairly clear that was not the meant message. Extra not too long ago, Elon Musk used a manipulated image of Swift blowing a kiss to indicate she had accomplished a Nazi-style salute, an try and distract from his personal salute after Trump was inaugurated in January.
Swift got here out in opposition to Trump in a 2020 documentary and endorsed Joe Biden, one thing that induced the far-right to largely abandon her as a meme. But it surely stays to be seen whether or not Sweeney will stay a right-wing meme whose message is one in every of hatred for minorities and trans folks. If she chooses to stay silent and depart folks guessing, it appears extraordinarily seemingly that probably the most excessive voices will see her as their very own.
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