Dr. Phil McGraw weighed in on the uproar surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign during a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher.
The TV host strongly criticized the comparisons being made between the denim ad and historical atrocities.
The discussion began when Maher addressed the backlash against Sweeney, noting how quickly the reaction escalated. “Sydney Sweeney came out as—not came out—she was exposed as a Republican,” Maher said. “And she has the big jeans ad that was controversial. And they reported this like it was a scandal… It is not a slur that someone is a Republican.”
Dr. Phil echoed Maher’s frustration with the outrage, but he took his criticism a step further.
“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,” McGraw 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.”
McGraw continued by framing the pushback as disproportionate. “That is ridiculous. I’m gonna go out and buy those jeans for every woman in my family, everybody I know just to show support,” he said. Maher quickly pushed back, joking, “That’s a little creepy.”
Dr. Phil doubled down, responding, “You should go buy 10 pairs of those jeans and just throw them out the window to everybody you know. Do everything you can to support that company and not let them get cancelled because of that ad.”
The controversy stems from the campaign’s wordplay linking “jeans” and “genes,” which many online critics argued carried racial and political undertones. Some described it as a “dog whistle,” pointing to imagery of blonde hair and blue eyes as symbols of purity politics.