The brand took to Instagram with an official statement that read, "'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans. Her Jeans. Her Story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way." The company concluded its statement by declaring, "Great jeans look good on everyone," according to Fox News.

Social media users responded with polarized reactions to American Eagle's refusal to apologize or modify the campaign messaging. "Kudos to yall for sticking to your guns!!" one user wrote in support of the brand's stance. Another enthusiastic supporter commented, "LETS GOOOOOOO AE FOR THE WIN!!!!!" A third defender added, "Don't cater to the woke – keep making great denim AE."

However, critics remained unsatisfied with the company's response, Fox News noted. "It's the lack of empathy for me," one dissatisfied user commented on the brand's Instagram post. Another critic wrote, "didn't think the response could be even worse than the ad but it somehow was."

The controversy erupted earlier this week when American Eagle launched its latest marketing effort featuring the 27-year-old actress under the title "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," which prompted mixed reactions across social media platforms. In the promotional video shared on the brand's Instagram account, Sweeney approached an AE billboard displaying her image alongside the tagline "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes." The actress proceeded to cross out "Genes" and substitute it with "Jeans" before departing from the scene.

Critics characterized the campaign as "tone-deaf" due to what they perceived as problematic racial implications, while supporters praised Sweeney for challenging what they termed "woke" advertising approaches. According to Salon, as reported by Fox News, the phrase "great genes" carried historical significance in "celebrate whiteness, thinness and attractiveness."

VP Vance nails it on the head.

The democrats haven't learned a thing. Nobody is listening to the unhinged democrats. American Eagle actually sold out of their jeans. Americans just want normality back, and it's here. Democrats can keep crying. pic.twitter.com/xQ5CPM8QVS

— Sassafrass84 (@Sassafrass_84) August 2, 2025

A second advertisement featured Sweeney lying down while fastening her jeans and stating, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color." The camera subsequently focused on her blue eyes as she declared, "My jeans are blue." Social media users quickly expressed their disapproval of the advertising content, Fox News detailed.

"Entirely tone-deaf," one Instagram user commented in response to the campaign. Another critic wrote, "This is what happens when you have no [people] of color in a room. Particularly in a time like this. This ad campaign got so caught up in this 'clever' play on words and this stunt the [people] in the room missed what was so blatantly obvious to anyone not White."

Some commenters escalated their criticism by drawing connections to historical propaganda, calling out the advertisement for allegedly resembling "Nazi propaganda." "Oh cute she's in her Nazi propaganda era," one user wrote in response to the campaign.

Nevertheless, numerous defenders rallied to support both the brand and the "Euphoria" star against the mounting criticism. "It doesn't hurt ANYONE. That's the point. It's literally an advertisement for jeans. Not for nazism," one supporter argued. Another defender commented, "I don't get why people don't like this? It's cute and clever." One user declared on X, "Woke advertising is dead. Sydney Sweeney killed it."

Woke advertising is dead. Sydney Sweeney killed it. pic.twitter.com/r7My48YscJ

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) July 25, 2025

The controversy even attracted political attention, with Vice President JD Vance addressing the situation during his appearance on the "Ruthless" podcast, where he criticized what he characterized as excessive Democratic reactions to the Sydney Sweeney advertisement. Fox News Digital contacted American Eagle for additional commentary regarding the ongoing controversy.

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In a shocking turn of events, American rapper Nicki Minaj found herself embroiled in legal troubles just hours before her scheduled concert in Manchester, England. According to authorities, Minaj, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport while en route to the UK for her "Pink Friday 2 World Tour."

They've been trying everything they possibly can to TRY to stop this tour

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 25, 2024

The 41-year-old artist was taken into custody by Dutch police but released after a few hours, having been fined for the alleged offense. In a statement shared on the social media platform X, law enforcement officials confirmed that an "American woman" had been apprehended for "possession of soft drugs" before being allowed to "continue her journey."

pic.twitter.com/h9UrZM9Abm

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 25, 2024

Despite Minaj's best efforts to salvage the situation, the promoter, Live Nation UK, was forced to postpone the Manchester show at the Co-op Live arena. "We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused," the company said in an update, assuring that tickets would remain valid for the rescheduled concert.

In a candid social media post early Sunday, Minaj shared her side of the story, expressing her sincere apologies to fans. "After sitting in a jail cell for 5-6 hours, my plane still didn't take off for another 20 mins once I boarded" the 50-minute flight from Amsterdam, she wrote.

now they said they found weed & that another group of ppl have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls. Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yea & the pilot wants me to take my ig post down.

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) May 25, 2024

Minaj, known for her outspoken nature, hinted at a potential conspiracy, stating, "They sure did know exactly how to hurt me today, but this too, shall pass." She also vowed to create "an added bonus" for ticket holders affected by the postponement.

Throughout the ordeal, the "Starships" rapper documented the events on social media, sharing videos of her interactions with authorities at the airport. In one clip, she questioned the decision to search her luggage after it had already been loaded onto the plane.  In response, her dedicated fans rallied behind her, sparking the hashtag #freenicki to trend across social media platforms. 

Minaj also alleged that certain individuals were trying to "sabotage" her successful tour, accusing them of planting evidence in her luggage and stealing money from her travel expenses. "This is how they plant things in your luggage," she wrote in one post, promising to provide video evidence and involve lawyers.

Despite the controversy, Minaj reassured fans that she would still perform at the remaining scheduled shows in Manchester on Thursday and Birmingham on Sunday. She expressed her determination to reschedule the missed Manchester concert, considering potential dates in June and July.

As the situation unfolds, Minaj's supporters eagerly await further updates, hoping for a smooth continuation of her highly anticipated world tour.

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For the third year in a row, the American Jewish Committee has released a survey about antisemitism in the United States and found large discrepancies in results between Jewish and non-Jewish respondents.

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According to the survey, 60% of non-Jews say antisemitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem in the United States today. By contrast, 90% of Jewish respondents said antisemitism is a very serious problem or somewhat of a problem.

Some 17% of Jews say they were the target of an antisemitic remark in person over the last 12 months. Of those who were targeted, 23% were in the West, 29% in the South, 12% in the Midwest and 14% in the Northeast, according to Holly Huffnagle, AJC's US director for combating antisemitism.

Antisemitic remarks were also found online with 12% of Jewish respondents reporting that they were the target of online remarks. (The report did not ask about seeing antisemitism online in general, but was specific to individual targeting.)

While the majority of Jews haven't changed their habits when it comes to going out as wearing or displaying items that would peg them as Jews out of fear of antisemitism, a significant number, 22%, said they had, and a full 17% said they avoided going to certain places for the same reason.

That, said the American Jewish Committee, is cause for concern.

"That one in four American Jews has been the target of antisemitism over the past year alone, and that four out of 10 have taken steps to conceal their Jewishness or curtail their activities, as a result, should alarm Americans," AJC CEO David Harris said in a statement. "Now is the time for American society to stand up and say 'enough is enough.'"

One of the major changes this year was reworking many of the questions so they reflect a very current time frame. The past studies have asked participants to look back over five years; but this time, said Huffnagle, people were asked to consider events over the "past 12 months."

That, she said, gives a more immediate look and "speaks to what American Jews are feeling now."

One of the more surprising findings was a 10% jump in the number of Jews who perceive the extreme political left as a challenge from previous surveys with 38% saying it is a very serious or moderately serious threat. Meanwhile, when asked about the extreme political right, 73% of Jews said it was a very serious or moderately serious threat.

Campus incidents, Holocaust knowledge, dual loyalty

While much has been written in recent years about the growing threat facing college students on campuses nationwide, the survey found that only 20% of Jews said they or someone they knew has "experienced antisemitism in a college setting."

That number needs to be put in context, noted Huffnagle; the results are based on a national representative sample size that is quite small with 1,400 Jews participating, many of whom may have no connection to college campuses or students. When examining the 18- to 29-year-old group, she explained, the response rises with 30% saying they or someone they knew experienced antisemitism on campus.

Among the reports other findings:

Most American Jews, more than 70%, were either "a lot or somewhat" aware of the numerous attacks against Jews after Israel's 11-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip in May. However, that number dropped to less than 50% of the general US population.

When asked if antisemitism has increased or decreased in the last five years, 82% of Jews said it increased a lot or somewhat while only 3% said it decreased (the remaining felt levels were the same.) Among the US population overall, 44% said it increased either somewhat or a lot while 15% said it decreased, and 22% said it remained the same and 19% said they weren't sure.

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Some 41% of general respondents have seen antisemitic incidents over the last 12 months that include negative remarks or online content about Jewish people or physical attacks on Jewish people or their religious facilities.

While 64% of general respondents say they know someone who is Jewish, another 36% say they personally don't know any Jews.

Jews and the general population overwhelmingly believe that the statement "The Holocaust has been exaggerated" is antisemitic, and both groups also believe that saying "Israel has no right to exist" is antisemitic. However, when asked if the statement "American Jews are loyal to Israel and disloyal to America" is antisemitic, 27% of the general population surveyed and 14% of Jewish respondents said it is not.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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From an appearance and visibility perspective, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's visit to Washington was a success. It seems he indeed managed to forge a personal connection with President Joe Biden and open a new page in US-Israel relations under the Democratic administration.

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However, in terms of the essence of the visit, numerous and quite possibly critical questions remain. Beyond the administration's diplomatic intentions, particularly in relation to reopening a Palestinian consulate in east Jerusalem, the monumental issue at hand remains what the US position will be if or when Israel is forced to take action against Iran.

It appears this decision is fast approaching: The Iranians are enriching uranium to 60% purity, at which point the path to a nuclear bomb is short. Under the extremist regime of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, it's hard to envision a situation where the Iranians agree to return to the original 2015 nuclear deal, despite the far-reaching concessions made by the Americans.

It's important to note that the Iranian regime cannot suffice with "threshold" capabilities, or in other words, simply having the ability to manufacture a nuclear weapon within a short time frame, rather, from its point of view, it must actually possess such a weapon. This need reflects the regime's fear of meeting the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi in Libya or Saddam Hussein in Iraq, two dictators who lost their military nuclear programs, and its desire to rather mimic the regime of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean tyrant who hasn't surrendered his nuclear program and has remained in power. However, in addition to survival, the bomb is essential to the prestige of the Iranian regime and the justification of its existence. It's intolerable, the ayatollahs say, that the Indians, Pakistanis and Jews have a nuclear bomb while the Islamic republic does not.

It's safe to assume that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the security advisers surrounding him have seen the images from Afghanistan and concluded that an American military response is nothing to be feared. The lack of an American reprisal following the missile fire on US bases in Iraq, carried out by pro-Iranian militias, only bolsters this conclusion.

In Tehran, although officials also undoubtedly took note of the warning issued after the meeting between the Israeli prime minister and US president, whereby "other options" regarding Iran were still on the table – they certainly must have noticed that the warning didn't include the customary "all options" on the table. We can surmise that the Iranians believe the American administration will do everything in its power to prevent Israel from launching a war that could envelop the US.

In the same context, the supreme leader and his advisers are surely watching Israel and its eclectic new government, and have likely concluded that it will struggle to make the necessary war-time decisions.

According to one possible scenario, the Iranians will continue enriching uranium and manufacturing the additional components required for a nuclear bomb and will reach the point of no return over the winter months. This would be the ideal time due to possible severe weather conditions that could impede and perhaps even neutralize the Israeli Air Force. Another consideration is the possibility of deterring Israel with a massive missile barrage by Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, without caring too much about an Israeli response against Lebanon.

Contrary to the widespread view among Israeli pundits that the humanitarian disaster in Lebanon limits Hezbollah's ability to attack Israel, the current crisis is actually deterring Israel from harming or attacking Lebanon in response to Hezbollah fire. The world will not sit idly by as Israel exacerbates, through a military campaign, the suffering of the Lebanese people whose situation is already dire.

In light of this scenario, it was very important to hear a public commitment of support from the US president for Israel's right to defend itself against any regional threat. Behind closed doors, it was crucial to hear how the US can enhance our ability to defend ourselves. This can be done by giving Israel military capabilities the US has thus far withheld from us, to other understandings. For example, will the US be willing to grant us military, logistical, diplomatic and even legal aid during a war with Iran?

Granting such understandings could be an appropriate return for Bennett's promise not to publicly criticize the 2015 nuclear deal.

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Bennet's commitment, although welcome politically, could come back to bite us diplomatically and maybe even militarily. If Israel is forced to act against the Iranian threat, it is critically important that we start building our case on the international front, and the sooner the better.

It is perhaps just as vital as the military preparations for such an operation, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi recently said, to establish our justification as much as possible. Immediate action is imperative; winter is fast approaching.

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Representatives from the US and Israeli Air Forces met last month to discuss a remarkable development that the IDF described as "updated orders for the cooperation between the two nations' air-defense systems during emergency situations."

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The Israeli delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Gilad Biran, commander of the IAF's Air Defense System, and the American delegation was led by Brig. Gen. Greg Brady, commander of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, which is based in Germany.

"The purpose of the meeting was to improve the collaborative readiness of the forces for the joint defense of the State of Israel," said the IDF. "At the end of the meeting, a document for updated air-defense operational cooperation between the two countries was signed."

According to Charles B. Perkins, director for US-Israel Security Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, while the two militaries have a long record of cooperation and coordination in joint exercises and air-missile defense planning, "this new agreement and the decision to publicly disclose it takes place within the context of some significant recent trends."

Perkins pointed out that the May conflict between Israel and Hamas, dubbed by the IDF as "Operation Guardian of the Walls," and the performance of the Iron Dome air-defense system against Gazan rocket barrages "has certainly garnered some attention within the US Army's air-defense community."

Iron Dome maintained an interception rate of approximately 90% during the conflict, according to an IDF assessment.

In addition, Perkins said, the issue of counter-drone technology is becoming ever-more relevant.

Hamas launched six drones during the May conflict, and the IDF intercepted all of them, including, for the first time, by Iron Dome as well as missiles fired from F-16 jets.

"The American Army is the lead US service tasked with countering the mounting small drone threat and the prospect of offensive drone swarms – a phenomenon on the horizon in the Mideast," said Perkins.

Meanwhile, the drizzle of rocket fire targeting US assets in Iraq has "highlighted the need for greater responses to the challenge of non-state entities using high-trajectory weapons," he added.

Simulating rapid deployment of American assistance forces

On July 23, Israel and the United States launched the Juniper Falcon joint air-defense drill, which simulates a range of missile threats on Israel and the ability of US forces from EUCOM (European Command) to quickly deploy to Israel and set up air-defense systems in assistance of Israel's own defense systems.

The United States sent two C-130J Super Hercules Aircraft from Ramstein Air Base in Germany to Israel with personnel to take part in the exercise, which was held at multiple locations in Israel.

The long-planned drill was "designed to test simulated emergency response procedures, ballistic-missile defense, and crisis response assistance in the defense of Israel," the IDF stated.

It also serves as an opportunity for US military personnel and the IDF to exercise together and learn from one another.

While Perkins said it wasn't possible to say with certainty which air-defense systems America might offer, should Israel request emergency support, he noted that "the configurations seen during the recent Juniper Cobra drills are probably a good indication."

In line with what the exercise showed, Patriots, naval-based interceptors such as the Aegis destroyer SM-3 and perhaps the THAAD, which was deployed for the first time to Israel during one of the most recent joint exercises, could be sent over, assessed Perkins.

Such systems could integrate with Iron Dome, David's Sling, and the Arrow 2 and 3 air-defense systems, the latter which intercepts ballistic missiles in space.

"Clearly, this new agreement is a reflection that America recognizes the mounting danger Israel faces, particularly from the north and east, and seeks to ensure that if a future conflict escalates to a certain level, the United States will be prepared to rapidly take the necessary steps to support Israel's air- and missile-defense requirements should a political decision be made to do so," stressed Perkins.

Meanwhile, the fact that Israel has transited to America's CENTCOM area of responsibility, which commands forces in the Middle East, and away from EUCOM, has not stopped significant links between the IDF and EUCOM on air-defense cooperation, he said.

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On the other hand, Perkins cautioned that the fact that CENTCOM has been ordered to withdraw American missile-defense assets from the Gulf region as the threat from Iran and its proxies mounts "is not an encouraging development for regional security."

Iron Dome's role in defense cooperation

Meanwhile, the US Army has purchased two Iron Dome batteries manufactured by Israel's Rafael defense company as part of an initial evaluation phase. Rafael has demonstrated the system for the US Marines as well.

This time last year, the US defense contractor Raytheon and Rafael announced a joint venture to produce Iron Dome weapons systems on American soil.

"While there's still a degree of uncertainty regarding what the US Army intends to do with the two Iron Dome batteries it's acquired – now undergoing testing – it stands to reason that boosting the mechanisms for bilateral air-defense cooperation will support any synergies that may arise, as Israel continues modernizing and expanding its own Iron Dome capabilities," said Perkins.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Media coverage of antisemitism in the United States last year indicates that the issue has become largely politicized, according to an Israeli study released on Sunday.

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In his report "The Discourse on Antisemitism in the United States in the Mainstream Media in 2020," Lior Sirkis of the Tel Aviv Institute for National Security Studies found that "both sides of the political map are increasingly accusing each other of being responsible for the phenomenon. The right accuses the left of being responsible for antisemitism and anti-Zionism, while the left attributes it to white right-wing supremacists."

The political divide also reflects divisions within the American Jewish community, Sirkis wrote, which he says makes it difficult to agree on what antisemitism is, what causes it, and how to fight it.

This political divide is also visible in Israeli coverage of antisemitism in the United States. Israel Hayom ran five editorials on left-wing antisemitism in 2020, while the left-wing Haaretz newspaper did not address the issue at all. It has, however, published op-eds on antisemitism among right-wing Americans.

"The media also devoted considerable coverage to confrontations between the mayor of New York and the Jewish community over the latter's failure to comply with COVID-19 restrictions in the city," the report said.

According to Sirkis, there were two periods in 2020 when the media covered antisemitism among black Americans: after the December 2019 antisemitic attacks in Monsey and Jersey City – both perpetrated by African Americans – and the protests following the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer. In both cases, the press analyzed the hatred of Jews within certain black American communities.

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Sirkis found that while the US media is interested in celebrity antisemitism, it largely ignores antisemitism in academia and on social media. The American Jewish media, on the other hand, does cover these issues.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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