Sydney Sweeney responds to criticism for posing nude in a sports betting ad with the nudity of well-known athletes

Although surprising with her decisions, actress Sydney Sweeney (Spokane, Washington, 29 years old) is convinced of everything she does and determined to defend it. The actress, who became famous as the controversial Cassie in the series Euphoria, is now almost as well known for this role as for the advertising campaigns for which she lends her image, and which always generate discussion. In the latest one, an ad for the sports betting app Novig launched on September 9, Sweeney’s presence practicing the most popular American sports, such as basketball or American football, would probably have gone unnoticed if it weren’t because she appears naked. “Sports, sports, sports,” she repeats during part of the ad video, which is less than a minute long, but in which her lack of clothing is like the elephant in the room: impossible to ignore. “Just Sports,” reads the advertiser’s claim, perfectly aware that the elephant would be the key to the success of their campaign. After several days of criticism from those who interpreted the ad as a sexualization of women in sports, its star decided to respond through her Instagram profile (25.7 million followers) with a series of stories showing women and men, professional athletes, posing naked on the cover of the American magazine ESPN.

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The impact of the ad, which the actress herself shared on the day of its launch on her Instagram profile, helping its virality, was almost immediate. Just in the comments on the post, many athletes have taken the opportunity to show their discontent with what they consider a step backward in the representation of women who practice sports. “We have spent years fighting to be seen and respected for our talent, strength, and achievements, not reduced to our bodies,” lamented a user recently, in the same vein as many others, who say they feel sad and angry about the images of Sweeney naked. In the succession of comments on the ad, it is hard to find those who think otherwise, except for exceptions, such as a woman who talks about “honoring a woman’s right to choose how to present her body.” “After all, it was her choice,” she writes.

In recent days, moreover, the criticism has stopped coming only from anonymous athletes. Active professionals have spoken out against the Novig campaign to tear it down. Among them, Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, who expressed her “anger” on her Instagram profile upon seeing the campaign video in a post that is no longer available and which The Guardian collected. “It’s not only a slap in the face to all those women who have dedicated their lives to perfecting their craft, but also to all those who enjoy sport for what it really is: teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity… How can we live in a world where the commodification of the female body and the sexualization of women’s sports still exist?” reflected the four-time Olympic champion, who retired at 25 years old, in October 2025.

In a more ironic tone, other athletes have wanted to highlight what they consider wrong or unrealistic about the actress’s campaign. American gymnast Gracie Kramer posted a video on her Instagram showing her training and competing with this overlaid text: “I don’t know how Sydney thinks sport is, but this is what it really is.” She was followed by swimmer Lani Pallister, sprinter Bree Rizzo, and even the profile on the same social network of the Australian Institute of Sport, which published a video of its athletes in archery, gymnastics, boxing, softball, and other disciplines along with the text: “Sport is THIS.” Following the same trend, Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns, who says she “hates” the ad, and boxer Skye Nicolson, of the same nationality, have spoken out on their social media.

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It seemed that the actress from Euphoria responded to all of them through several stories, which she began posting on Sunday, September 13. Without any added text that could explain her position, the actress, knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words, first posted a photo of tennis player Serena Williams’s cover on ESPN Magazine, specifically its special edition known as The Body Issue, in which the publication shows elite athletes posing as naked as she is in the app auction ad. Following Williams’s 2009 cover are those of professional wrestler Ronda Rousey, basketball player Sue Bird, soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, as well as covers for the same magazine of several male athletes, such as American football players Myles Garrett and Rob Gronkowski or the one the magazine dedicated to the entire offensive line of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Despite this counterattack, some have already pointed out that the comparison of this entire panel of athletes with her appearance in the Novig ad is not exactly valid: “Thinking that ESPN’s The Body Issue is comparable to this campaign shows how lost you are. That athletes choose to pose naked in a publication celebrating the strength, power, and capability of elite athletic bodies is not the same as using a conventionally attractive and sexualized actress alongside sports teams to sell a gambling product,” wrote another user in a comment on the post with the controversial video on Sweeney’s profile, which today already has a million Likes.

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