Matt Rife knows a thing or two about fending off internet backlash, so he’s speaking up in defense of Sydney Sweeney.
The past few weeks have seen the Euphoria actress come under fire for starring in a controversial American Eagle jeans ad campaign that some have accused of dog-whistling white supremacy. But that’s not all — earlier this summer, Sweeney stirred outrage for selling soap infused with her own bathwater. Commenting on the increasing backlash, Rife made it clear that he’s standing in Sweeney’s corner.
“I keep seeing people mad at Sydney Sweeney for noooothing,” Rife wrote in a Friday X post. “She’s learning that the internet is full of absolute garbage losers who will twist anything you say into a c–ty misinterpretation. People are awful.”
Rife’s post was paired with Sweeney’s response to the bathwater controversy, which she claimed was sparked by women: “It was mainly the girls making comments about it, which I thought was really interesting,” she said in a recent interview, adding, “They all loved the idea of Jacob Elordi’s bathwater.” (The latter comment was a response to the viral Saltburn scene, in which Barry Keoghan slurps the bathwater left by Elordi’s character.)
Mathieu Bitton/Netflix
Matt Rife in his Netflix special, ‘Natural Selection’
As for Rife, the comedian who rose to fame on TikTok is no stranger to weathering internet outrage. After breaking out on the scene in 2023, Rife landed himself in hot water by making light of domestic violence in his comedy special, Natural Selection. The bit revolved around a woman with a black eye who took his order in a Baltimore restaurant.
“My boy who I was with was like: ‘Yeah, I feel bad for her, man. I feel like they should put her in the kitchen or something where nobody has to see her face, ya know?'” Rife joked during the special. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, but I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye.”
He later quipped, “I figure we start the show with domestic violence, the rest of the show should be pretty smooth sailing after that.”
Rife later posted a mock apology and, at his sold-out Hollywood Bowl show the following year, poked fun at the idea that he was “canceled.”
Rife isn’t the only celebrity to come to Sweeney’s defense. Dr. Phil McCraw slammed the outrage that Sweeney received for her jeans ad, condemning those who labeled the campaign antisemitic.
American Eagle
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad
“For people to go crazy over that ad [that says] ‘she’s got good genes,’ and for them to say that’s the equivalent of the Holocaust, is an absolute insult,” McCraw said. “Six million people were killed. Six million Jews were massacred and murdered, and they equate that to a blue jeans ad for a Hollywood actress? What an insult.”
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Sweeney also earned support from President Donald Trump who only celebrated the ad after being told that the actress is a registered Republican. “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic!,” Trump replied.
Elsewhere, plenty of social media users have criticized the campaign and stars like Doja Cat and Lizzo have enjoyed poking fun and parodying the ads. Sweeney herself has yet to address the campaign or the backlash it sparked.
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