Sydney Sweeney’s recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has ignited a level of online debate far beyond what anyone expected from a red dress and a blonde bob.
The 28-year-old actress arrived on set wearing a fitted crimson gown and a sharply cut hairstyle that social media critics immediately labeled as coded conservative imagery. The claims snowballed as influencer Blakely Thornton accused the look of channeling “MAGA.”
Thornton also mocked Sweeney’s team before poking fun at her hair.
The situation escalated once Sydney Sweeney’s longtime hairstylist Glen Oropeza fired back publicly.
An influencer accused Sydney Sweeney of wearing a “MAGA-styled” dress on her recent Jimmy Fallon appearance
Image credits: Getty/NBC
Following Thornton’s comments accusing the actress of wearing “the stiffest wig this side of the Mississippi,” screenshots surfaced of Oropeza responding directly to him.
“Wasn’t a wig but you can’t get my girl’s name out of your mouth,” he wrote. “You’re obsessed.”
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He followed with a second message in which he called out Thornton for trying to twist Sweeney’s appearance into something it was never intended to be.
“Stiff where? You’re doing a lot. Take a breath, diva. You can keep trying to spin a narrative, but we all know you just need clickbait cuz your content is TIRED,” the stylist wrote.
“If you need attention, just say that. Imagine caring this much about a hairstyle you didn’t create and a woman who doesn’t know you exist. Goodnight.”
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“I hope you get paid overtime for being a sycophant,” Thornton replied. “And you’re right, Black people are tired. Very much so. Good luck on the rest of the press tour.”
Thornton has long criticized Sweeney’s fashion choices and even her social circle. In September, he described her birthday party, which included Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, as something that “looked like the third circle of hell.”
The look echoed elegant attires worn by high-profile political figures
Image credits: blakelythornton
Sweeney’s look echoed high-profile political figures who have embraced the same color palette and silhouettes she wore on Fallon.
Her detractors, on the other hand, insisted that the look leaned conservative and jokingly called her hairstyle the “Fox News Bob.”
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For decades, women like Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, and Hillary Clinton built some of their most public-facing visual identities around red dresses.
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Clinton, in particular, regularly chose deep red eveningwear throughout her years as First Lady, Senator, and then as presidential candidate, where red dresses became a signature of her brand.
“I don’t know why they pick on this girl,” a reader wrote. “I think she looks great.”
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Others believed Thornton’s attempt to characterize Sweeney’s dress as being GOP-coded was nothing more than an attempt to create drama, something the influencer has built his brand around.
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In the past, Thornton has published videos in which he specifically targets white women, telling them “we are not friends,” and that he doesn’t care about their opinion.
The influencer said he specifically targets Sydney Sweeney because he feels she exemplifies what he believes is “Hollywood’s commitment to whiteness.”
Sweeney was previously accused of representing conservative ideals by becoming the face of American Eagle’s “Good Jeans” campaign
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The political framing of Sweeney’s appearance did not end with the dress. Online debates continued as some users pointed to previous moments in her public life as supposed evidence of a conservative aesthetic.
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For instance, the controversy surrounding her American Eagle campaign titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” in which the word “genes” was crossed out and replaced with “jeans,” was cited by some as an example.
Others said the backlash was nothing but manufactured outrage, and argued that American Eagle was simply talking about Sweeney’s beauty, not her race.
Image credits: AE
On August 1, the brand issued a message to its critics, saying the campaign was “always about the jeans.”
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
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Despite the explanations, one thing is clear. For a segment of the internet, Sidney Sweeney has become irrevocably associated with the cultural and political divide in the US.
“Clueless.” Sweeney’s detractors shared their thoughts on social media
