What is it with jeans’ advertising? Last week, it was Sydney Sweeney. Now, conservative firebrand Megyn Kelly has found her latest target: Beyoncé, whose new Levi’s jeans campaign has sparked praise and buzz across the internet. But Kelly, never one to miss a culture war moment, took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice her disdain.
“This is the opposite of the Sydney Sweeney ad,” Kelly wrote, referencing the actress’s recent campaign for American Eagle. “Quite clearly there is nothing natural about Beyoncé. Everything — from her image to her fame to her success to her look below — is bought and paid for. Screams artificial, fake, enhanced, trying too hard.”
Kelly’s takedown, however, ignores a few glaring facts. Beyoncé recently made history as the first Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Country Album. Her Cowboy Carter album went on to earn the top honor—Album of the Year—cementing her cultural and commercial dominance. Her world tour, which includes a blurred-out clip of Kelly herself ranting on-air, has been dubbed the highest-grossing country music tour ever by Billboard.
On her podcast, Kelly railed against the star’s foray into country, sarcastically remarking, “All hail Queen Bey, she’s here to rescue country music, which was a perfectly thriving industry long before Beyoncé showed up.”
The Levi’s campaign ties directly into Beyoncé’s album, which includes a track called LEVII’S JEANS. The stylish spot showcases the singer in a series of sleek denim looks, leaning into her country era with complete confidence, and generating waves of online praise.
Kelly’s outrage arrives on the heels of conservative support for Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign, which some left-wing critics have called racially coded. Former President Trump came to Sweeney’s defense, calling her a sign that “WOKE is for losers.”
As usual, Kelly’s grievances seem less about jeans and more about discomfort with powerful women of color asserting themselves in mainstream spaces. Her podcast has increasingly shifted toward pop culture commentary, often with a side of race-baiting and manufactured outrage.
Neither Beyoncé nor Levi’s has responded to Kelly’s comments. But the Queen doesn’t need to clap back—her record-breaking success speaks for itself.
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