“Her body her choice”? Or “single handedly setting feminism 1000 years back”? Euphoria star Sydeny Sweeney has once again sparked significant backlash online for her latest commercial – but this time from the female sporting community.
It seems that whenever American actress Sydney Sweeney signs on for an ad campaign, the internet ends up losing its mind.
Following her hugely controversial American Eagle publicity campaign, which some perceived as promoting White supremacism and eugenics, her latest stunt has sparked fresh backlash. This time, Sweeney has managed to exasperate female athletes and Olympians, who have labelled the advertisement as “infuriating” and “a kick in the face to every woman.”
Thercial for Novig, the American sports trading app. Read: gambling firm
In the NSFW advert, the Euphoria actress poses with little-to-no clothing and pieces of sporting equipment. Very little is left to the imagination.
“Novig is just sports,” she says, strategically covering her bathykolpian figure with footballs – followed by a baseball bat, a hockey stick, a tennis racket…
“Sports… Sports… Sports…” she repeats, before adding: “No betting on wars or deaths, and no politics. Just you and your takes on sports.”
“The campaign was about embracing a fun idea,” said Sweeney, who is also a Novig strategic partner and equity holder. “The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humour and a playful edge.”
No one bought it, as the focus was less on sports and clearly on appealing to those… titillated by her Sweeneys.
Of course, social media went into overdrive. The ad clearly worked for some and enraged others, who saw it as a shameless way of treating people like idiots.
“Sydney Sweeney is single handedly setting feminism 1000 years back and you can’t convince me otherwise,” wrote one social media user, while another added: “It’s basically soft-core porn.”
“Stop sexualizing women’s sports,” another wrote. “In WHAT world do you need to be butt ass naked for a SPORTS COMMERCIAL?!”
Beyond the usual bile-filled back-and-forths on X, the advert has raised concern among female athletes, who have argued that Sweeney’s ad shamefully sexualises women’s sports and is “demeaning”.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medalist for Australia, wrote on Instagram. “Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is – teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity.”
She added: “How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
Australian World champion boxer Skye Nicolson said it was about making a “mockery” of women in sport. “There’s a big difference between looking ‘sexy’ because you do sport compared to using sex to sell ‘sport’,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “There is nothing wrong with looking good and doing sport and there’s nothing wrong with embracing your femininity while also being a badass athlete.”
As for Canadian skier Cassidy Gray, who competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she took to TikTok to respond to Sweeney’s ad, noting how female athletes face being sexualised, not being taken seriously and not given the same opportunities as men. Gray went on to describe Sweeney’s actions as “idiotic” and “senseless” in a video that now gone viral.
Meanwhile, in a post liked by several celebrities, including actress Florence Pugh, UK athlete Lucy Davis wrote: “I don’t know wtf Sydney Sweeney was doing, but it’s 2026. Stop sexualizing women in sport.”
British sprinter Amy Hunt used a BBC interview to call out the actress. “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” she said after racing at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. “Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is a beautiful evening.”
Elsewhere, the Female Athlete Project, which fosters a community for women in sports, posted the following statement: “We’re not entirely sure if Novig or Sydney Sweeney and her PR team have ever watched sports. But honestly, wow. It’s incredible they could fit so much misogyny in 40 seconds. Sports has long treated women’s bodies as commodities, and this objectification does nothing to support real women in sport.”
Naturally, this statement also prompted some backlash, featuring a few less than erudite comments and even some support for Sweeney.
“Why don’t we blame / name the ad company instead of the actress? I’m sure if she declined the offer someone else would have done it. I don’t think it’s right to blame her,” wrote one user on Instagram. Another commented: “This is so dramatic. It’s a sports betting ad. It doesn’t have anything to do with women in sports. It’s meant to draw in silly men to spend money on sports.”
“Sooo guess it’s body positivity if they’re overweight?” queried another, adding: “Pretty sure she never said anything specific about women in sports. Women have been used in sports ads for forever. What if Sydney Sweeney was fat? I’m sure everyone would praise her? What if it was Taylor Swift in the ad? I’m sure everyone would praise her. “Support other women”… unless it’s Sydney Sweeney???”
Sweeney has seemingly responded to the backlash by taking to herInstagram Story to post various covers from ESPN Magazine’s The Body Issue from over the years which show nude sports photos featuring athletes including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey and Megan Rapinoe.
Still, that hasn’t stopped more than 200,000 of her followers from smashing the “unfollow” button on her account…
Role play
The ad has left many wondering what Sweeney is playing at. Provocation for the sake of it? Inviting objectification of her own body and accepting the pornification of whatever big companies want in exchange for a big fat paycheck? Or just doing ads for the love of reminding horny viewers that spherical sports equipment can be reminiscent of breasts?
Whatever it is, sadly, it’s working – as her recent stunt has already achieved infamy. But beyond the nose-bleedingly tacky nature of it all – as well as the predictably misogynistic “hot takes” online reminding everyone that X gathers the binjuice of humanity – one aforementioned British athlete raises an important question.
Amy Hunt doubled down on her criticism by warning that the Novig advert risks becoming a “barrier” to young girls wanting to take part in sport.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: “I think when we’re trying to provide role models for young people and young women in sport, we really want to show that it’s about what your body can do, not so much what it looks like.”
“I think when we see the the stats of 64 per cent of young girls drop out of exercise and sport before they reach the age of 16, we don’t need to place any kind of barrier whatsoever in their way in terms of providing the opportunity and the empowerment for them to still exercise, whatever that looks like, professional or kind of just going to do a ParkRun with your friends. So it’s about empowering young girls and young women and young people to show that you really can just get out there and you don’t have to worry what you look like, you don’t have to worry about what you’re wearing.”
She added: “Sport, it’s not pretty, and I think that’s the thing to get to the level that we’re at. It’s shown to people that being aspirational and trying to be elite is something amazing, and you should really want to be the best version of yourself you can be. And that doesn’t always look attractive, and that doesn’t always look nice. Sometimes it looks like throwing up in the corner of the track, or I’ve had sessions this year where I’ve been crying afterwards.”
Will Novig and Sweeney take notice or think again in the future? Probably not. They’re doubtlessly rubbing their hands at yet another viral Sweeney moment and fooling themselves into thinking they’re getting away with the “put the focus entirely on sports” line. Shame, as maybe people would muster more goodwill towards the ad if the makers openly acknowledged that the only thing sex sells is sex itself. Not sport.
Source: www.euronews.com
