Sydney Sweeney continues to be highly controversial!
Last week, an ad for sports trading app Novig starring dropped, starring a super nude, super sexualized Sydney.
In one shot she’s covering her breasts with oversized footballs, in another she’s completely nude sitting atop a basketball hoop while the camera zooms up toward her. The next shot shows her covering her lady bits with a football with abs and underboob on full display, and at one point she’s laying down on the ground showing off her butt.
Watch it for yourself (below):
Confirmed: Sydney Sweeney knows ball. pic.twitter.com/EXQ4PzVZsi
— Novig (@Novig) September 9, 2026
The Euphoria alum is fully leaning into her sex symbol status, showing no desire to change course.
While some applaud her, others feel she’s doing a disservice. This time around? It’s female athletes calling her out.
On Saturday, American gymnast and UCLA alum Gracie Kramer (pictured above, right inset) took to Instagram to share a video montage of her sports videos, writing:
“Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like.”
Oh damn!
Remember the Titans actress and content creative Shanda Lee Munson wrote in the comments:
“As a female of a much older generation, she has no idea of the kind of rooms we’ve had to fight to get in. Especially in male dominated worlds. Two things can be true. You can be beautiful and proud of your body. And you can also unnecessarily use it for no other reason than to be sexualized.”
Olympic track sprinter Bree Rizzo also shared her thoughts via Instagram, posting a video that says “Respectfully Sydney Sweeney…” with the caption:
“There’s so much more to women in sport than how they look. It’s about their strength, skill, dedication, resilience, confidence and everything they’re capable of achieving. I want young girls watching women in sport to see what their bodies can do, how powerful they are and everything they can achieve!!”
She concluded the caption by @’ing Gracie Kramer and calling her the inspiration for her post.
Ariarne Titmus, an Australian Olympic swimmer, wasn’t too happy, either. As reported by UsWeekly, Ariarne vented in her Instagram Stories over the weekend, writing:
“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. I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. 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. How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
And water polo star Tilly Kearns wrote in her own post:
“I absolutely fking hate Sydney Sweeney’s new sports ad”
See:
Over the weekend, Sydney seemed to respond to the controversy by sharing multiple covers of ESPN magazine’s Body Issue over the years that featured female athletes in the nude. Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe were just a couple she featured.
Still, that’s not really helping matters. Boxer Skye Nicolson took to her own Stories to point out:
“There’s a big difference between looking ‘sexy’ because you do sport compared to using sex to sell ‘sport’. 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.”
Whew! A lot to take in!
What do you think? Are people going too hard on Sydney? Or are they right to speak up if they feel like her work affects them and the progress they’ve made? Let us know in the comments!
[Image via NOVIG/MEGA/WENN]
