American Eagle Outfitters CEO Jay Schottenstein said in an interview published Monday that the company stands behind its Sydney Sweeney jeans ad campaign, which sparked controversy with some liberal commentators.

"You can’t run from fear," Schottenstein told The Wall Street Journal. "We stand behind what we did."

He said that he told executives at the company to remain calm and not comment on the campaign, which prompted some backlash on the left. Some liberal media critics argued that Sweeney's American Eagle jeans ad promoted racist and "regressive" themes.

The CEO assigned a team to monitor social media reaction and survey customers, according to the WSJ. American Eagle kept the ads in place, which gained attention for their "great jeans" wordplay.

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