Halsey wants fans to go see Americana, the film she co-stars in alongside Sydney Sweeney, who is facing controversy over a recent American Eagle campaign.
The singer-actor posted on Thursday via Instagram stories in support of the Tony Tost-directed crime thriller, which has had a rocky start in the box office, ostensibly due to Sweeney’s involvement in the recent American Eagle campaign. “You should go see this movie. because [director] @tonytost made an exceptional film, in honor of a genre he knows intimately,” Halsey wrote on her Instagram Story, according to a report by Page Six, which included screenshots of Halsey’s posts.
“Because his work and his vision are greater than the 24 hr gossip tabloid denim bullshit,” the singer added. “If you love cinema, then you should know that cinema comes first. This is cinema,” she concluded.
The denim remark appears to address the recent controversy surrounding co-star Sweeney. In July, American Eagle debuted a denim ad featuring the actress with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.” The decision to focus the ad around the “jeans” and “genes” homophone has turned the campaign into a culture-war flashpoint. Moreover, Sweeney was, through no fault of her own, already a culture-war flashpoint due to the gross politicization of her body, particularly from those on the right.
In a separate post, Halsey wrote: “I do agree that our words are important in this climate. I don’t, however, think that it’s fair for the news cycle to predatorily rip a hardworking director and his hardworking crew for this film that is completely separate-from and unrelated-to a (pretty dumb) advertising take.”
“If it’s not clear who the actual people I’m standing up for are, I’m sorry look closer,” Halsey concluded. A rep for Halsey did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
Following the Sweeney backlash, American Eagle said in a statement on Instagram: “’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.”
Halsey shared the Instagram stories posts following Americana’s theatrical debut, which earned an unimpressive $500,000 during its Aug. 15 launch, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Tost, who made his directorial debut with the film, addressed the controversy on Friday. “One of the great things about movies is that they outlive the zeitgeist into which they were released,” he wrote on social media. “As someone whose first film sorta got gobbled up by the zeitgeist, I’ll be curious to see how it’ll stand up after this moment is over. Hopefully fairly well!”
Sweeney has not publicly commented on the backlash as of press time. A rep for Sweeney did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
