At a glance it might seem that Sydney Sweeney and Martha Stewart similarities are purely physical.
Both beautiful blondes with modelling experience it makes sense that American Eagle would have tapped them up to front their clothing campaigns.
Yet A-list actress Sydney, 28, and millionaire businesswoman Martha, 84, have something else in common – they’ve both suffered very public falls from grace.
Sydney is currently persona non grata in Hollywood after fans took umbrage to her MAGA links, her romance with controversial record executive Scooter Braun, and her alleged feuds with fellow stars.
The final straw for many proved to be her summer campaign with American Eagle, when critics threatened to boycott the brand after claiming the slogan, Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans, promoted eugenics.
Conversely, when Martha was unveiled as the new face of the brand this week, shares for the clothing company jumped by four percent in one day.
Sydney Sweeney should be taking notes from Martha Stewart after her disastrous American Eagle campaign as the brand’s shares have soared after she was replaced as face of the brand
Yet there was a time when no brand would touch Martha, who herself once found herself getting the cold shoulder from Hollywood
Yet there was a time when no brand would touch Martha, who herself once found herself getting the cold shoulder from Hollywood.
The homemaker and businesswoman fell out of public favour in 2003 when she was charged with fraud offenses arising from insider trading.
She denied wrongdoing but was convicted of securities fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements, and was sentenced in 2004 to five months in federal prison followed by five months house arrest.
Upon her release, Martha attempted to make a career comeback with the launch of her self-titled cooking show.
After an initial burst of interest, its popularity soon waned and her social and cultural relevance declined.
Yet Martha soon found an ingenious way to get back into the public eye – by poking fun at her own prison stint during the Comedy Central Roast Of Justin Bieber in 2015.
Speaking on her Netflix docuseries Martha, she admitted she hadn’t watched a roast before agreeing to do it, recalling : ‘My publicist said “this is a little bit out of your milieu!”‘
Yet she was determined to give it a go, and found herself sitting alongside host Kevin Hart, Shaquille O’Neal, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Natasha Leggero, Hannibal Buress, Chris D’Elia, Jeff Ross, Pete Davidson and Will Ferrell as his Anchorman character Ron Burgundy.
The homemaker and businesswoman fell out of public favour in 2003 when she was charged with fraud offenses arising from insider trading. She was imprisoned the following year
Yet Martha soon found an ingenious way to get back into the public eye – by poking fun at her own prison stint during the Comedy Central Roast Of Justin Bieber in 2015
During the roast, Martha had the audience in hysterics as she cracked jokes such as: ‘Justin, I’m sure it’s great to have 60 million followers on Twitter, but the only place people will be following you in jail is into the shower.’
Martha’s jail time had been a regular butt of jokes throughout the night – and one she was happy to poke fun at herself, saying she was there to ‘give Justin Bieber some tips for when he inevitably ends up in prison’, including how to make a shank and how she ‘stuck’ the ‘biggest bull d**e’ in jail to get herself respect.
After pause for laughter, she quipped: ‘And Shaq, I hope your mum still doesn’t hold a grudge.’
Martha received a standing ovation for her roast and Justin himself called her ‘incredible’ as he went in for a hug when she had finished.
Speaking about the impact Martha’s appearance had, her publicist and journalists noted: ‘She was the star of the roast. It made waves and catapulted her into a younger audience.’
While Martha learnt that poking fun at her scandal ultimately helped the public move on from it, Sydney tried a different tact.
She recently tried to sidestep the controversy when she was quizzed about the American Eagle ad during a recent interview with GQ.
The Christy star stirred up more backlash with her flippant response, which saw her state: ‘I did a jean ad. The reaction definitely was a surprise, but I love jeans.
‘All I wear are jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day of my life,’ she began, unbothered by the backlash.
Sydney tried a different tact by trying to sidestep the controversy when she was quizzed about the American Eagle ad during a recent interview with GQ
For now, Sydney is throwing herself into work – recently hitting the promotional trail for her boxing biopic Christy. However, the film proved to be a box office flop
When pressed about Donald Trump calling the ad ‘fantastic,’ Sydney stayed poised, seemingly sidestepping the leading question and simply noting she was surprised by all the attention while staying focused on her work.
‘It was surreal… it’s not that I didn’t have that feeling, but I wasn’t thinking of it like that. Or like, of any of it. I kind of just put my phone away. I was filming (Euphoria) every day,’ she explained.
When given the chance to address claims the ad condoned ‘genetic superiority,’ Sydney simply replied: ‘I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.’
Many said she avoided the chance to apologise for what she said – or at least clarify that she didn’t have racist views.
For now, Sydney is throwing herself into work – recently hitting the promotional trail for her boxing biopic Christy.
However, the film – which had a 67 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes – proved to be a box office flop and ranked in the top 12 worst ever for movies showing on more than 2000 screens, Box Office Mojo reported.
