“Real Time” host Bill Maher is pushing back against online critics who’ve taken issue with actress Sydney Sweeney’s recent “Great Jeans” ad for American Eagle, labeling the backlash as an overreaction from “online social justice girls.”
During his Friday night show, Maher addressed the uproar over the ad, which features Sweeney wearing denim and making a play on words referencing her “great genes.” Some online voices have accused the campaign of racial insensitivity, with extreme reactions branding Sweeney a “Nazi” and “White supremacist.”
Mocking the outrage, Maher quipped, “I don’t think they did it on purpose, but it’s pretty funny that all the online social justice girls are saying, ‘It’s racist. There’s no such thing as good genes, right?’ And then they go on Tinder and swipe left on every bald guy.”
Maher also poked fun at the overt styling of the ad, noting how Sweeney—sporting blue eyes and a denim-on-denim look—resembled “Jay Leno in all blue denim.”
“She talks about having blue eyes, and then says, ‘I have great jeans,’ you know, because she’s wearing jeans,” Maher joked. “But according to the woke people, that means she’s a White supremacist.”
Taking it further, he continued with his signature satire, joking that critics would likely be outraged by her body as well, saying her bra size is “36 KKK” and claiming she nicknamed her breasts “the Proud Boys.”
The American Eagle campaign, titled Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans, has sparked a range of reactions across political lines.
Vice President JD Vance also addressed the controversy during an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast, using the opportunity to ridicule Democrats’ approach to cultural issues.
“My political advice to the Democrats is: continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive that they’re a Nazi. That appears to be their actual strategy,” Vance said.
Vance argued the outrage reveals a deeper disconnect within the left. “You have a normal, all-American beautiful girl doing a normal jeans ad—trying to sell jeans to kids—and they’ve completely lost it over this,” he said. “Did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?”
He concluded, “I thought one of the lessons might be: let’s be less crazy. Instead, their takeaway seems to be: attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful. Great strategy. That’s definitely how you win the midterms—especially with young American men.”
