In the swirling media and cultural‑wars landscape of 2025, few faces have been as paradoxical and provocative as actress Sydney Sweeney. And one of the loudest voices discussing her — and the larger implications of her presence in the culture‑media mix — is Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld. This article delves into the phenomenon of “the inscrutable Sydney Sweeney,” how Gutfeld views her, and what their interplay tells us about celebrity, politics and the media today.

Who is Sydney Sweeney?

Sydney Sweeney rose to prominence through roles in acclaimed series such as Euphoria and The White Lotus, carving out a reputation as a younger actress who could move between edgy dramatic work and more mainstream profile‑raising campaigns. She has spoken candidly about how fame has changed her:

I’m no longer treated like a ‘human’,” she told Variety, describing how people “build someone up… and then they love tearing them down.”

Her public persona has become a mixture of glamorous style icon, media subject, and political cipher—one moment involved in fashion campaigns, the next attached (fairly or not) to culture‑war flashpoints.

The Controversy Around Her Campaigns

One of the major turning points in Sweeney’s trajectory was her campaign with American Eagle Outfitters for “wide‑legged ‘The Sydney Jean’” denim: the tagline played on the words “genes” and “jeans” (“Sydney Sweeney has great genes” — then crossed to “jeans”).

Critics argued the ad’s word‑play and the visual of a blond, blue‑eyed actress invoked a subtle eugenics or white‑supremacist undertone. On the other side, many conservative media figures hailed her as a symbol against so‑called “woke” culture. For example, Sweeney’s registration as a Republican in Florida fed into the narrative:

Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST ad out there,” wrote Donald Trump.

Thus Sweeney’s public image became more than an actor’s; it became a battleground for culture‑war messaging.

Greg Gutfeld’s Take: Celebrity, Cancel Culture & the Media Machine

Greg Gutfeld, host of the hit Fox show Gutfeld!, has frequently spoken about media over‑reach, cancel culture and how celebrities become scapegoats or lightning‑rods. In profiles of him, Sweeney features as a case study of these dynamics. For example:

Consider the internet push to cancel Sydney Sweeney… ‘Did you take down Sydney Sweeney’s relative?’ ‘Yes, I did.’ It should be ‘Well, you’re a fucking loser!’ That should be the answer.”

Here Gutfeld is less concerned with Sweeney herself than with what her media treatment says about public discourse: how you select targets, how outrage is commodified, and how celebrity becomes symbolic.

 to Sweeney’s ad campaign compared to just 3 minutes for the unfolding Jeffrey Epstein saga at the time. This imbalance is precisely what Gutfeld and others critique as media agenda‑setting: the mechanics of distraction, entertainment and outrage.

Why “Inscrutable”? The Paradox of Sydney Sweeney’s Public Persona

Why label Sweeney “inscrutable”? Because she appears to occupy contradictory spaces:

On one hand, she’s hyper‑visible: major brand campaigns, red carpet events, magazine covers.

On the other, she resists easy categorisation: she hasn’t fully embraced a single political identity (though registered Republican), she shifts between dramatic acting and fashion iconography, and she oscillates between public vulnerability (talking about fame) and media weaponisation (the jeans/genes ad).

She triggers both praise and backlash: beloved by some conservatives as a symbol, criticised by others as a pawn in culture‑wars.

She is used by media — by both sides — as a stand‑in for larger issues: beauty, youth, politics, corporate marketing, censorship.

In other words, she becomes less a person and more a prism through which multiple cultural anxieties and aspirations are projected. Gutfeld’s commentary captures this: she’s not merely a target, she’s a mirror.

The Broader Implications: What This Interplay Reveals

The Sweeney‑Gutfeld nexus illuminates several trends worth unpacking:

Celebrity as cultural currencySweeney’s rise, and the way her image is packaged, shows how celebrity today isn’t just about acting—it’s about branding, social alignment, and symbolic value. Her campaigns are themselves cultural artifacts.

Media prioritisation and framingThe disproportionate coverage of Sweeney’s denim campaign over major investigative scandals (like Epstein) suggests media outlets pick stories that maximise engagement, outrage or identity conflict—not necessarily those of greatest public importance. Gutfeld’s critique underscores this: the medium becomes the message about the medium itself.

Cancel culture and backlash economySweeney’s experience—being elevated, criticised, defended, and used as a symbol—fits the template of “target” in cancel‑culture rhetoric. As Gutfeld frames it: once you become the “symbol,” many deeper questions get masked by performance.

Political branding and tribal signallingThe alignment of Sweeney’s image with conservative culture (her Republican registration, praise from Trump) illustrates how entertainment figures become part of political signalling. Her denim campaign becomes a proxy war. Gutfeld, operating at the intersection of commentary and comedy, highlights how these entanglements play out.

Critiques & Counterpoints

Of course, the analysis above is not without caveats:

Some will argue that Sweeney is simply an actress doing her work—and that critics are projecting too much onto a campaign that may have been innocuous.

Others will say Gutfeld’s framing overlooks the substantive issues that campaign critics raise: if the “great genes” pun really invokes white‑supremacist tropes, isn’t that worthy of scrutiny beyond the dismissive “outrage” label?

And a broader critique: are we overstating the power of celebrity or underestimating individual agency? Sweeney may be used as a symbol, but she is also an actor making choices—and her decisions matter.

What to Watch Going Forward

Sweeney’s next moves: How will she navigate further campaigns, roles, and public persona? Will she lean more into political identity, or distance herself from the culture‑war framing?

Media coverage evolution: Will outlets continue to prioritise celebrity‑driven culture‑war stories at the expense of investigative journalism? Will Gutfeld’s critiques gain traction?

The interplay between celebrity and politics: Will other actors similarly become symbols in ideological battles? Will the “inscrutable celebrity” become more common—and what does that mean for public discourse?

Conclusion

Sydney Sweeney today is far more than a rising Hollywood actress. She’s a cultural signal: a flashpoint in debates about beauty, identity, politics, branding and media. Greg Gutfeld’s commentary frames her as emblematic of deeper structural issues—where media selects its battles, celebrity becomes a tool, and public attention becomes a commodity.

Inscrutable” fits: she is simultaneously visible and opaque, celebrated and critiqued, brand and person. The question isn’t just what Sydney Sweeney stands for, but what her treatment reveals about the media‑political ecosystem in which Gutfeld operates—and in which we all watch, decide, react.