Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Sports Betting Ad Has Female Athletes Furious. SNL Creates Parody.
Sydney Sweeney is no stranger to controversy. But her latest ad campaign has landed differently — and the blowback is coming from women who feel directly targeted by what it represents.
On September 9, sports prediction platform Novig released a 60-second ad featuring Sweeney posing completely nude, with basketballs, footballs, and tennis rackets strategically placed to maintain technical modesty. Throughout the clip she drawls the word "sports" repeatedly and delivers the line: "No betting on wars or deaths and no politics. Just you, your takes, and sports."
The campaign is called "Just Sports." The internet immediately responded that it was about something else entirely.
By September 12, outgoing SNL star Chloe Fineman — who announced her departure from the show after seven seasons back in July — had posted a parody on Instagram that captured the moment perfectly. Wearing a blonde wig and red shorts to mirror Sweeney's look, Fineman held a prosthetic mold over her chest and acted out a recreation of the ad as sports balls were thrown at her.
"Yesterday I moved out of my dressing room at SNL, but I got to take my 'Sydney Sweeneys,'" Fineman said in the video, which she tagged Sweeney in directly.
"Many people think this ad is about sports. But it's actually about t**s," she said in the parody.
The video landed. "This is absolutely hilarious and far less cringey than the actual ad," one commenter wrote.
What Female Athletes Are Actually Saying
The comedic pile-on might have stayed lighthearted if it weren't for the more serious conversation happening simultaneously from women who compete professionally.
Retired Australian Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ariarne Titmus posted on Instagram: "I can't describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman's body and sexualizing women's sport is still a thing? It felt like a kick in the face."
British Olympic runner Hannah Williams called it "a disgrace for women in sports who are constantly trying to be respected in a male dominated field."
Australian Olympian and field hockey player Jocelyn Bartram was more pointed: "There are so many different ways to get people's attention rather than sexualising women's sport once again. For another woman to bring female athletes down to such a level when we have fought so long to be recognised by our male counterparts and are still fighting to prove we belong every day, just leaves me speechless."
Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer told CNN the ad was "very damaging for young females getting into sports, for females in sport, for females in general."
The common thread is the same: female athletes spend careers trying to be taken seriously for their athletic performance, and a campaign that replaces that entirely with a nude actress saying the word "sports" repeatedly undermines that work.
How Sweeney Is Responding
Sweeney hasn't backed down. Her statement positioned the campaign as intentionally playful rather than exploitative. "The campaign was about embracing a fun idea. The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humor and a playful edge."
She also pointed out that she's not just the face of Novig — she joined as a strategic partner and equity holder, making it a financial investment rather than a simple endorsement deal. "Being able to be a part of watching this company grow and not just be the face of it is really important to me," she said.
When the backlash intensified, Sweeney responded in her characteristic way — posting additional nude photos to her social media, her wordless answer to critics who suggested she should be embarrassed.
She's also defended her right to use her body however she chooses, pointing to other athletes — male and female — who have posed nude in campaigns over the years. The counterargument critics make is that choice and consequence aren't mutually exclusive: Sweeney can choose to make the ad, and female athletes can choose to say it sets back the work they've done.
This Isn't the First Time
It's worth noting this is the second time in less than a year Sweeney has navigated a major ad controversy. Her American Eagle "Great Jeans" campaign in late 2025 drew political backlash from a different direction — with critics on the left accusing it of carrying conservative messaging, and American Eagle's sales jumping significantly as the controversy drove attention to the brand.
The pattern suggests something about how Sweeney operates in the current media environment — and perhaps how well she and her team understand that controversy, channeled correctly, generates more sustained attention than any conventional marketing campaign. Whether that calculus serves her long-term public image or the brands she partners with differently than it serves short-term attention is the question both sides of this debate are still working out.
SNL's Bowen Yang claimed in 2024 that when Sweeney hosted the show, she encouraged cast members to make jokes about her physical appearance. Fineman's parody this week suggests at least some of the cast took that invitation seriously — and aren't done with it yet.
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