Category: 5. Entertainment

Sydney Sweeney overlooks herself in her latest campaign for American Eagle.

Courtesy: American Eagle Instagram

Outside of what has become an annual American tradition of reviewing Super Bowl commercials, it has been years since I’ve heard or been sent so many reviews, opinions, and hot takes on a :15 or :30 second commercial spot.

Until now.

Last week, American Eagle came in hot with a series of ads featuring one of America’s most popular rising stars. Actress Sydney Sweeney, 27, launched her new collaboration with the retailer, titled ‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’.

And it did not disappoint (or perhaps it did, depending on who you ask)

From the South China Morning Post to the Daily Mail, and Vanity Fair to NPR – outlets across time zones, age brackets and industry verticles are chiming in on their thoughts and perspectives and symbolism of the ad. On social media, the ad is the talk of TikTok, X, and Instagram with influencers and everyday people eager to record videos to share their opinion, all while replaying the ad for their users to see, of course. Even the President commented!

What’s all the talk about?

The pun/double entendre of language between genes and jeans, the intersection of visual identity and sex appeal, and the pretty privilege of “traditional” beauty.

Quite simply, this ad has unlocked America’s culture war about looks, influence, and eugenics?

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 10: Sydney Sweeney attends the Variety Power of Young Hollywood Presented by For the Music at NeueHouse Hollywood on August 10, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Variety via Getty Images)

Variety via Getty Images

American Eagle Is An Unlikley Catalyst

American Eagle Outfitters, while a longstanding international retail brand and manufacturer, is an unlikely catalyst for this moment. But what their story tells you is that GREAT ADVERTISING is effective when done correctly.

In recent years, advertising has been an industry under siege by both clients, who hire out the creative agencies that make the work, and by consumers who have multiple ways they can avoid watching ads.

Recent trends are continuing to accelerate this. Last month’s Omnicom’s much anticipated $13.5 billion acquisition of rival Interpublic was approved by the FTC, creating the world’s largest advertising agency. In the U.S., the firm would become the largest media buying ad agency as well. The new Omnicom will have over 100,000 expert practitioners with the combined entity forecast to yield $750 million in annual cost savings, highlighting the ongoing drive toward consolidation on Madison Ave.

Some argue that this consolidation hurts creativity due to the red tape and corporate-leaning culture.

It’s not to imply advertisements aren’t all around us. The average person sees hundreds of ads every day, but the reality is that due to the squeeze from both sides, the creative product is not as memorable as it could be.

When asking people if they can recall the ads that they see, the response is only between 1%-10%.

From AI, to ad-free streaming to ‘skip now’, advertising has seemed to become “in the way” of what we are trying to consume vs enhancing the experience of the time we are forced to commit.

And as algorithms become more powerful in serving custom ads, it’s become more complex and harder for brands and audiences to be able to recall advertising as they once were immediately. Gone are the days of ‘Yo Quiero Taco Bell’, ‘The Geico Caveman’, ‘Mac vs PC’, or ‘Spuds McKenzie’

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 14: Sydney Sweeney attends the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards at The Beverly Hilton on March 14, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Opposing Voices Don’t Hold as Much Weight

As the dust settles, American Eagle has stood by their ad campaign despite the criticism and controversy. Saying in a recent Instagram post, they shared their ad campaign “is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

The ‘Sydney’ jeans which the commercial was advertising, have completely sold out, and the stock price is at its highest point in nearly 6 months ($13.39 at the time of writing), showing that a great ad holds value for companies. Beyond that, the brand is now in minds and lips of millions across the world.

Could this American Eagle campaign be the tipping point to inspire a new era of creativity? And could the formula of painting the line on social issues surrounding privilege and race be the new formula?

I believe the answer is yes, and I for one am looking forward to actually watching them – regardless of what side of the debate I’m on.

Tiffany Haddish’s latest hard launch is stirring up confusion on social media.

The 45-year-old comedian on Aug. 3 shared a joint Instagram post with her friend Jason Lee, 47, with a caption that read “Cats out the bag ❤️.” Lee has one hand on a stroller and another around Haddish as she carries an infant in her left arm. In a second photo, the two gaze lovingly at the child as he stares straight into the camera’s lens.

Actress Tasha Smith summed up the sentiment in the comments section by writing: “What does this mean.” A few other commenters pointed out that the cat was, in fact, still in the bag due to the lack of context about who the baby was.

Haddish had some more fun the next day by posting content from a family Six Flags trip and adding a cheeky caption: “Spent the day at Six Flags with the fam. What’d I miss?”

Did Tiffany Haddish have a baby?

Makeup artist Rolexis Schinsing joked about being a godmother to this baby in both a comment and an Instagram story that Haddish re-posted. “I finally get to tell everyone about my godchild!! 🤣,” she wrote alongside Lee and Haddish’s post.

Lee, vice mayor of Stockton, California and CEO of the entertainment website Hollywood Unlocked, also shared a photo of Haddish holding the baby boy while visiting a local high school cheer squad practice.

However, the little one seems to be Major, the 6-month-old grandson of Lee’s cousin, Natasha “Tasha” Brown. In the post, Lee gave a “shoutout to my commissioner Natasha Brown … for inspiring the young ladies of the South Stockton Vikings cheer squad and giving them the chance to meet Tiffany.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Haddish’s representatives for comment.

Haddish, who is currently on her Funny and Fearless Tour, is typically open about her private life, including her fertility struggles and dating updates. In a May appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” she said she was still dating a “roster” of people.

She has also spoken about the effect that endometriosis has had on her body, including pain that’s allegedly so strong she’d faint – as well as pregnancy loss. In various interviews and as recently as 2024, she told People that she had experienced eight miscarriages, calling them “devastating.”

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It’s an improbable pairing yet nonetheless exciting news for film buffs: Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong is returning to filmmaking to direct a feature project backed by Netflix. Titled Possible Love, the drama is Lee’s first movie in eight years since his critically acclaimed Haruki Murakami adaptation, Burning. 

The new film reunites Lee with the stars of his most critically revered earlier work. Possible Love‘s story is said to follow “the intertwined lives of two married couples leading completely opposite lives. As their worlds collide, fractures begin to appear in their daily existence.”

Korean screen royalty Jeon Do-yeon and Sul Kyung-gu will play the lead couple, Mi-ok and Ho-seok. Jeon previously won the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress honor for her performance as the indelible lead of Lee’s searing 2007 drama Secret Sunshine, and Sul was unforgettable in the lead roles of the director’s early masterpieces Peppermint Candy (1999) and Oasis (2002). The duo also has longstanding screen chemistry, thanks to previous pairings in the Korean features I Wish I Had a Wife (2001), Birthday (2019) and Kill Boksoon (2023). 

The second couple — Sang-woo and Ye-ji — will be played by Zo In-sung (Moving, Escape from Mogadishu) and Cho Yeo-jeong (best remembered as a rich wife from Parasite).  

Possible Love is co-written by Lee and Oh Jung-mi, his prior writing partner on Burning. The film is produced by Pine House Film, which also backed Burning. 

An international cult favorite, Lee is revered for the philosophical nerve that suffuses his rigorously inventive melodramas, which variously pick apart the complexities of Korean society. He began his working life as a high-school teacher, later becoming an accomplished novelist before transitioning to screenwriting and directing with his breakthrough debut, Green Fish (1997). He also made a brief, improbable foray into government, serving as South Korea’s Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2003 to 2004 (his stint was marked by a bold but ultimately failed attempt to institute screen quotas for independently financed filmmaking). Last year, Penguin Random House published Lee’s first collection of short stories translated into English, Snowy Day & Other Stories. Several of his stories were previously translated and published by The New Yorker.

Although he’s directed just six features over his 30-year film career, Lee has consistently won honors at the major European festivals — but he’s never gone home with one of the event’s top prizes or received an Oscar nomination. Oasis (2002) won the special director’s prize at the 59th Venice Film Festival; Secret Sunshine took best actress at Cannes; Poetry received the best screenplay award in Cannes; and Burning won the French fest’s international critics’ prize.  

Seth Rollins executed his master plan to perfection at Night 1 of SummerSlam on Saturday night. After being “injured” in his Saturday Night’s Main Event match with LA Knight, Rollins appeared on crutches at SummerSlam after CM Punk defeated Gunther to become world heavyweight champion.

What initially appeared to be Rollins warning Punk that he would be coming for him once he recovered from injury quickly took a turn. Rollins shed his crutches and knee brace before coming to the ring and cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. After laying Punk out with the Money in the Bank briefcase, Rollins hit a stomp, secured the pin and won the title.

Rollins will be in attendance for Raw on Monday night to celebrate the culmination of his plan to become champion and advance his designs on taking over WWE.

CBS Sports will be with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

WWE Raw preview

• Seth Rollins will appear after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract on CM Punk at Night 1 of SummerSlam
• Women’s intercontinental champion Becky Lynch will appear after defeating Lyra Valkyria on Sunday
• New women’s tag team champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair will appear in Brooklyn
• Sheamus and Rusev will run it back in another big singles clash

Metro Boomin is trying to bring the feeling back.

The St. Louis producer, who made his name in Atlanta, dropped his mixtape A Futuristic Summa where he bridged the gap between the Atlanta rap scene of the early to mid-2000s and the new generation. The tape features stellar appearances from more veteran acts like Young Dro and Waka Flaka Flame, while also showcasing newcomers like BunnaB.

Metro took to X and essentially released the project’s mission statement in a series of tweets. He started things off by posting a video of a digital billboard and said he put together the tape “for us not them.”

He then went on to post things like: “A lot of y’all get no bi—es and it shows.”

“If yo homeboy never had to hold you up in the teen party while u was getting twerked on then you might wanna sit this one out.”

IF YO HOMEBOY NEVER HAD TO HOLD YOU UP IN THE TEEN PARTY WHILE U WAS GETTING TWERKED ON THEN YOU MIGHT WANNA SIT THIS ONE OUT

— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) August 3, 2025

“If you never went out and competed with ya boys on who would get the most numbers then you might wanna sit this one out.”

IF YOU NEVER WENT OUT AND COMPETED WITH YA BOYS ON WHO WOULD GET THE MOST NUMBERS THEN YOU MIGHT WANNA SIT THIS ONE OUT#AFUTURISTICSUMMA

— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) August 3, 2025

“If you never had to write a number down period then you might wanna sit this one out.”

IF YOU NEVER HAD TO WRITE A NUMBER DOWN PERIOD THEN YOU MIGHT WANNA SIT THIS ONE OUT 😭😭#AFUTURISTICSUMMA

— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) August 3, 2025

“If you started listening to rap music in 2017 then you might wanna sit this one out.”

“If you never intentionally wore your clothes with the tags still on then you might wanna sit this one out.”

IF YOU NEVER INTENTIONALLY WORE YOUR CLOTHES WITH THE TAGS STILL ON

THEN YOU MIGHT WANNA SIT THIS ONE OUT#AFUTURISTICSUMMA

— Metro Boomin (@MetroBoomin) August 3, 2025

He then ended his series of tweets by saying rap music needs to embrace and lean into regionality more often. “Its time for music to get back regional,” he tweeted. “Social media got everybody tryna do the same thing. Let’s get back to actual culture and regional identity.”

He later added, “This is Avengers: Endgame level for the city. An Atlanta love letter,” when a fan commended him for thinking of putting the roster of artists involved together.

Metro Boomin Presents: A Futuristic Summa features guest appearances by J Money, Travis Porter, Young Dro, Gucci Mane, Roscoe Dash, Quavo, Breskii, YK NIECE, Skooly, Shad Da God, Meany, Imcfli, BunnaB, Jose Guapo, Rocko, 2 Chainz, Yung Booke, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Future and Yung L.A., and is hosted by DJ Spinz.

Chris Hemsworth is a busy man. When he’s not looking after his three children in Australia, he’s either climbing a 600ft dam in Switzerland or training with the South Korean military as part of his new series of Limitless. And, in the meantime, it’s essential he maintains a superhero physique worthy of the God of Thunder.

So, whenever he’s short on time but still in need of getting in an effective workout, Hemsworth likes to hit as many different muscle groups as possible and work through as many sets as he can feasibly manage. He admits that he enjoys chasing the pump, but the circuit-style training allows him to get in some conditioning as well.

‘I’ll pick about six or seven different machines, all different body parts, and just do a set on each one and see how many times I can get through that,’ Hemsworth tells Men’s Health. ‘It’s usually 20-30 minutes, but I’m continually moving through chest, chin-ups, squats, lunges, biceps, triceps – I like to try and hit every part of the body. It’s nice to get a pump on, it keeps the heart rate up, and you get the muscle fatigued as well. It seems to do a bit of everything.’

And even when Hemsworth isn’t short on time, there’s a clear exercise he’ll actively shy away from. ‘Steady state cardio, especially long runs,’ he answers when asked what his least favourite thing to do is. ‘I’m not a distance runner.’

The 41-year-old isn’t adverse to putting himself out of his comfort zone, however. During filming for the second series of Limitless, the Aussie actor had ‘no mask to wear or hide behind – there was a certain vulnerability and a lot of fear around that.’

Hemsworth adds:

‘I kept asking, “Why the hell am I doing this again?” And, as I would, I would push through the barrier of pain or discomfort or anxiety and come out the other side, where I would be hit with this profound lesson and wisdom that I wasn’t aware of before, and learn something different about myself.

‘In some regard that was conscious, but I didn’t realise it to this extent until I was doing the second season. Especially around the deeper discovery and understanding of myself, I was given a very unique opportunity to confront fears, face challenges, be pulled out of my comfort zone, and face these crazy orchestrated spaces of adversity.

‘I would encourage anyone, if they have an opportunity, as we all do as human beings, just to get out there and seek new adventures and not be not settled for the familiar. Seek the unknown, remove the the barriers of safety and comfort, and seek the things where there may be a little more calculated risk involved – but exposure to different challenges, that’s where our true growth occurs, and that’s what I took from this [second series].’

National Geographic’s Limitless: Live Better Now will be available to stream on Disney+ from 15 August.

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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

You can follow Ryan on Instagram or on X  

Acclaimed Korean helmer Lee Chang-dong is returning to features with “Possible Love” (working title), a relationship drama that will bow on Netflix. The project marks his first feature since 2018’s “Burning,” though he did direct the short film “Heartbeat” in 2022.

The story centers on two couples whose vastly different lifestyles create unexpected intersections, leading to disruptions in their seemingly stable routines.

The project brings together a roster of familiar faces from the director’s previous work. At the center of the cast is Jeon Do-yeon, who previously collaborated with Lee on “Secret Sunshine,” a performance that earned her the best actress prize at Cannes in 2007. She’ll portray Mi-ok, with Sul Kyung-gu cast as her spouse Ho-seok. The pairing represents the duo’s fourth collaboration, having previously appeared together in “I Wish I Had a Wife,” “Birthday” and “Kill Boksoon.”

Sul Kyung-gu also has history with Lee, having worked with the filmmaker on both “Peppermint Candy” and “Oasis.” Rounding out the central quartet are Zo In-sung as Sang-woo and Cho Yeo-jeong as Ye-ji.

Behind the camera, Lee has partnered again with screenwriter Oh Jung-mi, who co-wrote his international breakthrough “Burning.” Pine House Film returns as producer after backing that 2018 feature.

The filmmaker has built his reputation on psychologically complex narratives that examine Korean social dynamics through intimate character studies. His track record includes notable festival recognition: Venice honored “Oasis” with the best director’s prize in 2002, while Cannes has repeatedly celebrated his work, awarding “Secret Sunshine” for Jeon’s performance, “Poetry” for its screenplay, and “Burning” with the Fipresci’ prize when it competed for the Palme d’Or.

Production companies include Pinehouse Film Co., Ltd., Anonymous Content, LLC and Nowfilm Co., Ltd.

Sul Kyung-gu’s recent work spans “A Normal Family,” “Idol” and “The Merciless,” while Jeon Do-yeon has starred in action thriller “Kill Boksoon” and “Revolver.” Zo In-sung appeared in the superhero series “Moving” and “Escape from Mogadishu,” with Cho Yeo-jeong known for her roles in Oscar winner “Parasite” and “Hidden Face.”