The Denim Divide: Cynthia Erivo’s Bold Claim After the Sydney Sweeney Jeans Controversy

In the ever-shifting landscape of celebrity culture and fashion marketing, a new controversy has emerged—one that blends historical reinterpretation with modern identity politics. British actress Cynthia Erivo, acclaimed for her performances in Harriet and Wicked, recently ignited social media with a provocative assertion that quickly polarized public opinion.

Erivo declared that she would be a “better face for denim” than Sydney Sweeney, the Euphoria star, arguing that “Black people invented jeans.” The remark, delivered during a recent interview on a widely followed podcast, was framed as a response to lingering backlash surrounding Sweeney’s high-profile American Eagle advertising campaign earlier in the year. By December 2025, clips of Erivo’s comments had amassed millions of views across platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, reigniting a debate many thought had already run its course.

The origins of the controversy date back to July 2025, when American Eagle launched its campaign titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” The advertisements featured Sweeney, a 27-year-old blonde actress often described as embodying a quintessentially American aesthetic, modeling denim while playing on the homophone between “jeans” and “genes.” In one widely circulated video, Sweeney quips: “Genes are passed down from parents to children and often determine traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color… My jeans are blue.”

Critics were quick to condemn the campaign, with some commentators labeling it a “dog whistle” for eugenics and white supremacy. They argued that the emphasis on inherited traits, paired with Sweeney’s appearance, implicitly elevated Eurocentric beauty standards. Outlets such as USA Today and Fortune examined how the backlash reflected broader anxieties about racial hierarchies in advertising and the enduring dominance of Western ideals of beauty.

Erivo’s intervention reframed the debate through the lens of cultural reclamation. Speaking on The Breakfast Club podcast on November 25, 2025, she stated: “Jeans aren’t just fabric—they’re a legacy of Black innovation and resilience. They were created for labor, for survival, and now they’re constantly appropriated without credit.” She added pointedly, “Sydney is great, but let’s be honest—Black excellence wears denim best.”

Her remarks were amplified by public figures such as comedian Sir Lenny Henry, who echoed the sentiment on X and called on American Eagle to issue what he described as a “global apology” for overlooking Black talent like Erivo in favor of Sweeney. “Denim belongs to Black culture,” Henry argued. “Brands need to reflect that history.” His comments fueled an already heated conversation about representation, authenticity, and commercial power in the fashion industry.

The campaign’s original charitable aim—raising awareness and funds for domestic violence prevention through donations to Crisis Text Line—was largely overshadowed by the controversy. Hashtags like #JeansGate and #GreatGenes trended for weeks, illustrating how quickly a marketing message can be reinterpreted in the age of algorithm-driven outrage. Progressive voices condemned what they saw as coded messaging, while conservative commentators dismissed the backlash as excessive “woke hysteria.”

Yet Erivo’s historical claim warrants closer scrutiny. Most historians credit Levi Strauss, a German-Jewish immigrant, and Jacob Davis, a Latvian-Jewish tailor, with patenting riveted denim work pants in 1873 during the California Gold Rush. Strauss had arrived in San Francisco in 1853, importing sturdy fabric from Genoa, Italy—hence the term “jeans,” derived from Gênes, the French word for Genoa. While Black laborers, including enslaved people and sharecroppers, widely wore and adapted denim in the American South, the garment’s commercial invention is rooted in European immigrant entrepreneurship.

This tension reflects a broader trend of what scholars describe as “retrospective attribution,” where marginalized communities’ cultural contributions are emphasized to counter historical erasure—sometimes at the risk of oversimplification. Fashion historian Dr. Aisha Franklin noted in a December 1, 2025 essay on Medium that “Black workers popularized denim through agricultural labor and later transformed it into a symbol of style, from Delta blues musicians to Harlem Renaissance icons.” She argued that Erivo’s stance aligns with how hip-hop culture later redefined denim as an emblem of resistance and identity.

Public reaction remained deeply divided. Supporters praised Erivo for centering overlooked narratives. On X, the account @BlackFashionRev wrote, “Denim went global because of Black style and influence. Cynthia is absolutely right.” Critics, however, accused her of manufacturing outrage. Users like @SirBylHolte countered, “Fact-checking matters: Strauss and Davis invented jeans.” British tabloids such as The Daily Mail further questioned Erivo’s authenticity as a spokesperson for Black American history, citing her London upbringing.

The financial implications were not insignificant. According to Bloomberg, American Eagle’s stock dipped by roughly 3% following the campaign’s rollout before rebounding amid public defenses from figures like Sharon Stone. Analysts noted that brands now face a delicate balancing act between diversity commitments and market-driven casting decisions. By contrast, Reuters has reported that campaigns emphasizing inclusive storytelling—such as Nike’s recent athlete-led initiatives—have delivered double-digit sales growth.

Erivo’s own career trajectory underscores the calculated boldness of her remarks. A Tony Award winner for The Color Purple in 2016, she later earned acclaim for portraying Harriet Tubman in the 2019 biopic Harriet. Now starring as Elphaba in the blockbuster Wicked franchise, Erivo occupies a global platform. Some observers suggest the denim controversy conveniently coincided with her GQ “Woman of the Year” nomination, amplifying her visibility.

Sweeney, for her part, has remained notably silent. Her team declined to directly address Erivo’s comments, instead highlighting upcoming projects such as Anyone But You 2. In an August 2025 interview with Variety, Sweeney characterized the campaign as “about confidence, not superiority,” adding, “Jeans are for everyone.”

Ultimately, the Erivo–Sweeney dispute is less a personal rivalry than a symbolic clash. Denim—once mere workwear—now represents contested histories of labor, race, and commodification. As a December 2025 YouGov poll found, 52% of Americans viewed the controversy as “manufactured,” while 68% of Black respondents supported Erivo’s call for cultural recognition.

In an era where AI-generated advertising blurs authenticity and commerce, Erivo’s declaration poses a lingering question: who owns innovation? History may be linear, but culture is layered. Whether her stance leads to meaningful change or deeper division, it underscores a central truth of modern fashion discourse—representation is not charity; it is justice.