As Americana premieres amid a turbulent time for star Sydney Sweeney, her co-star Halsey is defending writer/director Tony Tost.
The 3x Grammy nominee recently expressed her support for the “hardworking director and his hardworking crew” as the film faces the apparent blowback from Sweeney’s American Eagle denim ad, which caused controversy over its “great jeans” wordplay.
“I do agree that our words are important in this climate,” she wrote Thursday on her Instagram Story. “I don’t, however, think that it’s fair for the news cycle to predatorily rip a hardworking director and his hardworking crew for their film that is completely separate-from and unrelated-to a (pretty dumb) advertising take.”
Halsey added, “If it’s not clear who the actual people I’m standing up for are, I’m sorry look closer.”
Following its SXSW 2023 premiere, Lionsgate debuted Americana last weekend in 1,100 theaters under its arthouse Premiere Releasing label, for a $500K opening, which is on par for the distributor’s release strategy.
In a since-deleted post shared by Daily Mail, Halsey praised Tost for making “an exceptional film,” adding: “Because his work and his vision are greater than the 24 hr gossip tabloid denim bulls***.”
The outlet quoted another deleted post from Halsey’s X account. “I’m not upset the film’s release is being hurt by the timing. I am upset that bunch of non celebrity people involved in this film are being bullied by the media,” she wrote. “I have said everything I am permitted to say about my feelings on the ad. And if you’re a fan of mine and think I ‘support eugenics’ then idk what to say idk why you’re a fan then tbh…”
Americana follows local outsiders and outcasts in a small South Dakota town whose lives violently intertwine after a rare artifact falls onto the black market.
Following Sweeney’s controversial denim ad, which appeared to be a nod to Brooke Shields’ infamous 1980 Calvin Klein campaign, American Eagle brushed off the backlash in a statement that the ad “is and always was about the jeans.” Meanwhile Donald Trump also endorsed the ad, saying, “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”
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