Sydney Sweeney has offered a cryptic response to the ongoing backlash over her controversial sports ad.
The actress has faced fierce criticism over Novig’s provocative “Just Sports” campaign, which features her using sports equipment to cover her body while promoting the prediction platform.
Female athletes were among the loudest voices calling out the ad, arguing that it sent the wrong message about women and their place in sports.
Highlights
- Sydney Sweeney responded to the intense backlash over her provocative sports ad in an unexpected way.
- Olympic athletes and sports stars accused the controversial campaign of sending the wrong message about women in sports.
- Novig’s CEO defended Sweeney and the campaign, saying the controversy “forced us into national discourse.”
“For every act of micro feminism I do Sydney Sweeney sets feminism 100 years back,” fumed one netizen.
Sydney Sweeney is facing intense backlash from female athletes and sports figures over her highly provocative Novig campaign
Sydney found herself at the center of a growing controversy after appearing in Novig’s new campaign, which launched last week on September 9.
The actress is a strategic partner and equity holder in the sports prediction platform, making the campaign more than a typical celebrity endorsement.
In the ad, she appears nearly unclothed, using various pieces of sports equipment to cover herself.
At different points, Sweeney is seen perched on a basketball hoop while spinning a ball, straddling a bench with two footballs covering her chest, and using a tennis racket to cover her backside.
Other scenes feature her wearing goalie gloves and shoulder pads as makeshift shields.
The Euphoria star appeared to respond to the backlash by sharing images of athletes who have posed unclothed before
The campaign's tagline centers on the idea that Novig focuses exclusively on sports.
In the ad, Sydney says, “Novig is... just sports. So they wanted a show? Just sports. No betting on wars or d**ths and no politics. Just you, your takes, and sports.”
Within days, criticism began spreading online, with female athletes and sports media figures arguing that the campaign s**ualized women in a space where many have spent years fighting to be recognized for their athletic ability.
Four-time Australian Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus described the campaign as “a kick in the face” to female athletes.
Meanwhile, Australian world champion boxer Skye Nicolson argued that there is a “vast difference between looking ‘s*xy’ because you do sport compared to using s*x to sell ‘sport.’”
She first shared a sponsored image from her Novig campaign with the caption, “It’s game dayy.”
American gymnast Gracie Kramer shared a montage of herself training and competing, alongside the caption, “Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sport looks like.”
As the controversy intensified, Sweeney shared a series of Instagram Stories on Sunday, September 13.
Olympic gymnast Gracie Kramer pushed back against the campaign by showing what women in sports actually look like
The Eden star then shared images of famous athletes who had previously appeared completely or partially unclothed in ESPN Magazine’s Body Issue.
The images included Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, and Caroline Wozniacki, as well as male athletes including Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
She also shared an image featuring Jason Kelce and Philadelphia Eagles offensive linemen.
Sydney, however, never explicitly explained why she was sharing the photographs, though the timing made them seem like a response to the criticism surrounding her own campaign.
But her apparent response did little to quiet the backlash, as social media users flooded her Instagram posts with disappointed and angry comments.
Critics argued that celebrating an athlete’s body is very different from using s*x appeal to sell a sports product
One netizen wrote, “As a former athlete and a woman who has personally experienced s**ualized comments, I’m genuinely disgusted and disappointed by this campaign.”
Another user added, “We’ve spent years fighting to be seen and respected for our talent, strength and achievements, not reduced to our bodies…”
One comment read, “I'm sorry, but this is NOT what women look like in sports.... Setting women in sports back 30 years at a time.”
Novig CEO and founder Jacob Fortinsky has defended the campaign, saying Sydney herself chose to pose unclothed.
He also suggested that the controversy has achieved one of the campaign's key goals by putting Novig at the center of a national conversation.
According to Front Office Sports, Jacob recalled Sweeney saying, “I’m uncomfortable with other platforms that have markets on what color underwear I’m going to wear,” before adding, “There’s something clean about sports.”
He added, “Sydney is great at captivating audiences and being the center of attention. In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse.”
“The ad itself is also SO GROSS, she’s so hypersexualized. Can’t understand why she did that to her career,” one netizen wrote
