Halsey took up for her first film as controversy continues to swirl around her co-star, Sydney Sweeney.
The Tony Tost film “Americana” landed with a thud in its first weekend in theaters, pulling in just $500,000. Commentators drew a line between the movie’s poor performance and the scandal around Sweeney’s recent ad campaign for American Eagle. Those ads, which centered around a pun on the phrase “good genes,” were accused of promoting eugenics. The chatter grew so loud that President Donald Trump threw in on the side of the actress. Sweeney has balked at talking about it in recent interviews.
In a pair of since-deleted posts to Instagram and X, the “Bad at Love” singer defended her feature film debut, saying it was “greater than the 24hr gossip tabloid denim bulls**t.”
Halsey on Instagram stories! pic.twitter.com/WVnvpcXdIR
— halsey archive (@haIseylq) August 22, 2025
“I do agree that our words are important in this climate,” she said. “I don’t, however, think that it’s fair for the news cycle to predatorily rip a hardworking director and his hardworking crew for their film that is completely separate from and unrelated to a (pretty dumb) advertising take.”
Halsey went on to encourage her fans to see the film, calling it Tost’s work “exceptional.” She wrote on X that her issue wasn’t with the film’s box office take but with the way people who worked on the film were being treated.
“I’m not upset the film’s release is being hurt by the timing,” she wrote. “I am upset that a bunch of non-celebrity people involved in this film are being bullied by the media.”
