It's in her genes—and Sydney Sweeney is carving out her own unique niche in the industry! This year's Emmy Awards, hosted by Nate Bargatze, seemed to have a recurring theme centered around Sweeney’s “jeans or genes.” The comedian was clearly aiming to inject some humor into the evening, but unfortunately, many of his jokes fell flat, leaving much of the audience unamused. One particular gag, in particular, left many attendees scratching their heads in confusion.
Bargatze made a bold entrance onto the stage, donning a striking blue denim tuxedo, complete with a matching denim bowtie and cummerbund. "I'm wearing a blue jean tux for some reason," he quipped, adding with a hint of self-deprecating humor, "We had, like, a joke. There’s a cummerbund, and I forgot what it—I don’t know."
It soon became apparent that his outfit was a nod to Sydney Sweeney's controversial American Eagle billboard and accompanying ad campaign, which boldly declared, "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans." Bargatze's denim ensemble was intended as a playful homage to Sweeney's ad, with the punchline supposedly arriving when he introduced Sweeney herself onto the stage—who was elegantly dressed in a formal red gown.
Alas, the joke failed to resonate with the audience. Several attendees admitted they didn't catch the reference, and a source backstage described the reaction as decidedly lukewarm. "The joke needed more—like, I don’t know, an actual joke?" one critic quipped.
Sweeney, for her part, seemed unfazed by the attempted humor. She took to the stage with professional grace, presenting the award without any interaction or acknowledgment of Bargatze's gag.
Bargatze's choice to wear a denim tuxedo was certainly a daring move, but it may not have paid off as intended. As one astute critic observed, "Parody only works when the original work is recognizable within the spoof."
