Fox News Dedicated More Time to Sydney Sweeney Jeans Ad Than Trump-Epstein Scandal

Fox News has spent the past week going into depth about Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle commercial and its surrounding controversy while only dedicating three minutes to Jeffrey Epstein coverage.

According to a Media Matters report published on Thursday (July 31), Fox News racked up 85 minutes discussing the online backlash to Sweeney’s viral jeans advertisement over the past four days. In comparison, the network only spent three minutes on Epstein and the latest comments made by President Donald Trump about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender.

The Euphoria actress’ jeans commercial caused a stir online, with critics blasting the ad for promoting “white supremacy” and “eugenics.” In the ad, Sweeney states, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”

Several right-wing commentators, including Fox News pundits and the White House itself, fired back at the criticism, mocking the “woke mob” for its online outrage. White House communications manager Steven Cheung wrote, “Cancel culture run amok. This warped, moronic, and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bulls***.”

Per Media Matters’ report, which used SnapStream’s video database and Kinetiq to calculate mentions of Sweeney, Fox News mentioned the jeans ad 62 times, compared to only 14 mentions of Epstein. The report also included mentions on rival news networks: CNN (638 for Epstein, six for Sweeney), Newsmax (180 for Epstein, 42 for Sweeney), and MSNBC (756 for Epstein, zero for Sweeney).

Related

James Carville Calls Out Fox News on Air Over Network's Lack of Epstein Coverage

Esptein has been in the news again in recent weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a statement claiming their investigation into Epstein determined that there was “no incriminating ‘client list.’”

Trump has been dodging questions about Epstein, including hanging up on CNN and referring to the entire situation as a “witch hunt.” However, he commented on the matter during a recent trip to Scotland, where he theorized that Epstein “stole” accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

“I think she worked at the spa,” Trump said. “He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever.”