Sydney Sweeney has fired back at critics of her provocative sports betting campaign by flooding her Instagram Stories with nude photoshoots from other famous athletes.
The 29-year-old actress faced immediate backlash after Novig, a sports betting platform, unveiled its new campaign starring her on Wednesday, September 9. The shoot featured Sweeney undressed in various sports settings, with her body strategically covered by props including her own hair, a football, and a basketball hoop.
Several prominent female athletes publicly condemned the ad’s sexualized portrayal of women’s sports. British sprinter Amy Hunt, 22, made her point directly to cameras during a post-race interview at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women’s sport looks like!” Hunt declared.
American gymnast Gracie Kramer took to Instagram with a reel pushing back against the campaign’s imagery.
“idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sport looks like,” Kramer shared on the platform.
Joc Bartram, goalkeeper for Australia’s national field hockey team the Hockeyroos, expressed deeper disappointment about the broader message.
“In a world where it just feels like women’s sport is being recognised for the talent and skill that it involves rather than the sexualisation of women, this new add (sic) by @sydney_sweeney feels so out of touch,” Bartram wrote on social media.
Rather than issue a verbal defense, Sweeney responded through visual counterexamples on Instagram Stories. She assembled a collection of nude or minimally clothed photoshoots from elite female athletes including tennis legend Serena Williams, former MMA champion Ronda Rousey, basketball star Sue Bird, soccer icon Megan Rapinoe, and tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.
The Euphoria actress extended the comparison to male athletes as well, posting similar shoots featuring NFL defensive end Myles Garrett, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns, and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce.
Novig founder and CEO Jacob Fortinsky defended the partnership in an interview with Front Office Sports, revealing Sweeney’s specific motivation for choosing his platform over competitors.
“She said, ‘I’m uncomfortable with other platforms that have markets on what colour underwear I’m going to wear. There’s something clean about sports,'” Fortinsky recounted.
Sweeney herself addressed the campaign’s intent in a statement distributed to outlets.
“The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports,” she said. “The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humour and a playful edge.”
She described the project as “about embracing a fun idea.”
This marks the second major advertising controversy for Sweeney in just over a year. Her previous American Eagle “Great Jeans” campaign, which played on genetic terminology to sell denim, drew fierce criticism for appearing to invoke eugenics rhetoric. In the now-deleted video, Sweeney had stated: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.” That campaign’s language sparked a swift and prolonged backlash that saw her heavily criticized across social media platforms.
The Novig campaign spans multiple sports environments including ice hockey, American football, tennis, and basketball settings, with Sweeney posed in corresponding costumes and undressed arrangements throughout.