Sydney Sweeney is facing backlash from athletes and sports fans after appearing in a commercial for a U.S. betting platform wearing minimal to no clothing. In it, she is seen posing with various sports equipment and sitting naked on top of a basketball hoop.
The advertisement for prediction market company Novig has been widely criticized for sexualizing women’s sports and trivializing the work female athletes put in to reach the pinnacle of their professions.
Australian swimmer and four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus, who announced her retirement last year, called the content out in an Instagram story, saying it was “a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft,” and to “every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is, teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence,” according to a BBC report.
U.S. gymnast and NCAA champion Gracie Kramer also responded to Sweeney’s advertisement by posting a reel on Instagram showing her training and competing with the caption “idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like.”
“It really is that deep,” she added.
Kramer’s post sparked a trend among elite female athletes, many of whom used her format to showcase their training regimens and intense competition.
Australian Olympic swimmer Lani Pallister posted a video of her training in the pool and at the gym, showcasing several medals she has won across multiple distances.
This summer, at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Pallister broke 14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky’s 14-year record in the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 8 minutes, 6.10 seconds.
British sprinter and four-time European champion Amy Hunt addressed the Euphoria actress directly after competing at an athletics showcase on Sunday evening. “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” Hunt told BBC Sport.
“Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears,” she continued.
“When you’re a woman in sport, it’s not pretty. It’s not glamorous. It’s not sexy all the time,” Hunt concluded.
Olympic water polo silver medalist Tilly Kearns wrote in a social media post, “I absolutely fking hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad,” with a reel of her training with the Australian Olympic team.
Sweeney has not responded directly to critics, but shortly after the advert was released, she shared several images of well-known male and female athletes who have posed naked on the cover of ESPN’s now-obsolete The Body Issue magazine including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Caroline Wozniacki, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ entire defensive line.
World Champion boxer Skye Nicolson said the backlash was a response to content that made a “mockery” of women in sport, rather than about their appearance, The Guardian reported.
“There’s a big difference between looking ‘sexy’ because you do sport compared to use sex to sell ‘sport’,” she wrote in an Instagram story, the British newspaper said.
“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.”
Sweeny is not just the face of the controversial campaign, she is also a “strategic partner and equity holder” in Novig according to a company statement.
The 29-year-old actress was the subject of controversy last year when she fronted a campaign for American Eagle with the tag line “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
The commercial received widespread criticism for language that viewers likened to eugenics messaging after Sweeney said “genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality, and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.”
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters last year that he approved of the ad.
“Oh, she’s a registered Republican, oh, now I love her ad. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” he said.
Months after the commercial was scrubbed from the internet, Sweeney addressed critics in an interview for her GQ “Men of the Year” cover story, saying she “was honestly surprised by the reaction.”
“I’m against hate and divisiveness,” the actress said.