Novig/Sydney Sweeney on Instagram
Female professional athletes are hitting out at Sydney Sweeney's NOVIG ad
Sydney Sweeney once again ran the most reliable play in her playbook this month, as she striped down to her birthday suit in an ad for the sports betting app NOVIG. Some professional female athletes have since taken issue with the ad.
The NOVIG ad, released last week, sees Sydney Sweeney wearing absolutely nothing and being covered up by various sports equipment. The commercial left little to the imagination and went massively viral on social media.
Sydney Sweeney seemingly responded to female athletes who have been critical of her birthday suit ad for NOVIG
Not all of the reactions were positive, however, as a handful of professional athletes called Sweeney out for the spot.
“I absolutely f-ing hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad,” wrote water polo Olympic silver medallist Tilly Kearns.
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” four-time Austrailian Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus 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 continued. “How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
“Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like,” added Gracie Kramer, an American gymnast.
“This 👏👏👏,” Olympic silver medalist diver Kassidy Cook commented on Kramer’s post, which has since racked up over one million likes.
British sprinter Amy Hunt called her out in an interview with the BBC, saying: “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like. Muscles. Hard work, blood, sweat, tears.”
“There’s a big difference between looking ‘sexy’ because you do sport compared to using sex to sell ‘sport’,” explained Australian World champion boxer Skye Nicolson.
Sweeney has seemingly gotten wind of the backlash from female athletes, as she shared numerous covers of the ESPN Body Issue on her Instagram story on Sunday night, posting photos of athletes such as Rhonda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, and more modeling in their birthday suits. Given that those pictures are from professional photoshoots, though, we cannot post them here, so you’ll have to just take our word for it.
Sweeney’s apparent response, however, clearly misses the point made by the likes of Nicolson and Hunt.