Sydney Sweeney appears to have heard the criticism of her racy sports betting ad ahead of the 2026 NFL season.
The Hollywood star, known for her roles in movies like “Anyone But You” and shows like “Euphoria,” is trending for her Novig, a prediction market company. The racy ads were released ahead of the 2026 NFL season. They went crazy viral (and can be seen in full here), but not everyone is a fan of them.
Women in sports media and some athletes have called out Sweeney for the photos, calling them disrespectful to females in sports.
Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer told CNN that she felt the ads were damaging to women.
“Just absolute utter disbelief, incredibly disappointing, like, how far you can put women’s sports backwards in the space of a 42-second commercial,” she told CNN, adding that the ad “is very damaging, especially for young females getting into sport, for females in sport, for females in general, just hypersexualized content.”
“We want to be valued for what we can do, not what we look like,” Palmateer added.
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Australian four-time Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus is bothered, too.
“I wasn’t going to share this as I didn’t want to give this any more attention. But I can’t keep my mouth shut,” she said, according to CNN affiliate 9News.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Titmus wrote.
“Not only is this 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 … the list goes on.”
Sweeney appears to have heard the criticism.
The Hollywood star fired back at her critics on her Instagram Story
Sweeney posted a series of photos of women in sports who have posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue or the ESPN Body Issue.
The “Euphoria” star pointed out that tennis legend Serena Williams, women’s soccer legend Megan Rapinoe, MMA legend Ronda Rousey and many others have posed in similar ways to her advertisement.
Ultimately, it’s not exactly the same thing, as those were athletes, and Sweeney is an actress.
But, clearly, the Hollywood star has heard the criticism of her ad and she’s not very happy about it.
