Sydney Sweeney says her silence over jeans advert backlash ‘widened the divide’

Actor speaks out over controversy around American Eagle advert in the summer that critics say flirted with eugenics

The actor Sydney Sweeney has said she should have addressed the controversy surrounding her American Eagle jeans advert, which was accused by critics of flirting with eugenics, saying not doing so widened the divide" between people.

Sweeney, who made her name in HBO's Euphoria and has since become a leading Hollywood star, told People magazine she regretted staying silent during the row, in which Donald Trump at one point intervened.