Sydney Sweeney under fire from athletes over nude sports-prediction ad

Female athletes have reacted with anger and incredulity to a “hypersexualized” advertising campaign featuring a nude or minimally clad Sydney Sweeney posing with sports equipment.

The campaign, for US sports-prediction market Novig, is “very damaging” for female athletes and young girls looking to get into sport, Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer told CNN in an interview Monday.

A new sports betting ad, where Sydney Sweeney wears little to no clothing while posing with sports gear, has gone viral. Olympians and other athletes are now calling the ad out, saying it sexualizes and sets back women’s sports.

In a series of photos and videos released Wednesday, Sweeney can be seen naked or scantily clad, holding American footballs, a tennis racket or a baseball bat. In one shot, she lies naked on top of a basketball.

Novig also posted an ad on its Instagram reels, which has racked up 37 million views in four days.

Palmateer was one of many female athletes to criticize the campaign.

“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 said to CNN, adding that the campaign “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.

Australian four-time Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus posted a response to the campaign on her Instagram stories.

Clive Rose/Getty Images

“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.”

Australian swimmer Lani Pallister was another of the athletes to hit back, posting a compilation video of her training and competing, with an overlay that reads: “Don’t know what Sydney thinks sport looks like, but THIS is what sport looks like.”

Fellow Australian, boxer Skye Nicholson, posted a similar video in response to the ad.

“Giving the ad campaign exactly what they wanted, but honestly these companies need to do better 🙄 Stop sexualising women in #sport ,” reads the caption.

Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP

American Eagle stock surges 25% after Sydney Sweeney’s ‘good jeans’ ad campaign boosts brand

Sweeney appeared to respond to the backlash Sunday by posting a series of photos from ESPN The Magazine’s annual “Body Issue.”

The yearly edition featured dozens of athletes either naked or semi-nude during an 11-year run that came to an end in 2019.

This is not the first time that Sweeney’s involvement in an advertising campaign has caused controversy.

In summer 2025, she featured in a campaign for US clothing brand American Eagle, which some claimed promoted eugenics and White supremacism.

“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,” she says in one ad. In another, she claims that “my body’s composition is determined by my genes.”

Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty Images

Look of the Week: Sydney Sweeney’s clothes are getting on people’s nerves

Sweeney didn’t initially address the uproar caused by the campaign, causing people to draw their own conclusions on how she felt about the ad.

Then, in November, GQ magazine published an on-camera interview asking Sweeney about the fallout. Sweeney responded by saying she was surprised by the reaction, but she didn’t apologize, instead reiterating her love for jeans and her stance that she’s not there to tell people what to think.

When asked if she wanted to set the record straight on her intention, the star replied with the now-viral soundbite: “I think that when I have an issue I want to speak about, people will hear.”

CNN has contacted Sweeney’s representatives and Novig for comment.

CNN’s Leah Dolan contributed to this report.

一则“过度性化”的广告宣传活动引发了女运动员们的愤怒和难以置信，该广告活动中，悉尼·斯威尼裸体或衣着暴露地与运动器材合影。

澳大利亚冲浪运动员费利西蒂·帕尔马蒂尔周一在接受 CNN 采访时表示，美国体育预测市场 Novig 发起的这项活动对女运动员和想要进入体育运动的年轻女孩来说“非常有害”。

一则新的体育博彩广告在网上疯传，广告中，悉尼·斯威尼几乎全裸地穿着运动服摆出各种造型。奥运选手和其他运动员纷纷谴责这则广告，称其将女性体育性化，并阻碍了女性体育运动的发展。

在周三发布的一系列照片和视频中，可以看到斯威尼裸体或衣着暴露，手持橄榄球、网球拍或棒球棒。其中一张照片中，她赤身裸体地躺在一个篮球上。

Novig 还在其 Instagram Reels 上发布了一则广告，四天内获得了 3700 万次观看。

帕尔马蒂尔是众多批评这项运动的女运动员之一。

“简直难以置信，太令人失望了，你竟然能在短短 42 秒的广告里把女子体育运动推向如此糟糕的境地，”她对 CNN 说，并补充道，这项活动“非常有害，尤其是对那些刚开始从事体育运动的年轻女性、对从事体育运动的女性、对所有女性而言，都是过度性化的内容。”

“我们希望人们重视的是我们的能力，而不是我们的外表，”帕尔马蒂尔补充道。

澳大利亚四届奥运会游泳运动员阿丽亚娜·蒂特姆斯在她的 Instagram 快拍上发布了对该活动的回应。

克莱夫·罗斯/盖蒂图片社

据 CNN 附属电视台 9News 报道，她说：“我本来不想说这件事，因为我不想让这件事引起更多关注。但我忍不住要说出来。”

“看到这一幕，我简直怒不可遏，”蒂特姆斯写道。

“这不仅是对每一位毕生致力于精进技艺的女性的当头棒喝，也是对每一位真正热爱体育运动的女性的当头棒喝——体育运动的意义在于团队合作、友谊、奉献、卓越、团结……等等。”

澳大利亚游泳运动员拉尼·帕利斯特也加入了反击的行列，她发布了一段自己训练和比赛的视频集锦，并配文：“不知道悉尼人认为体育是什么样子，但这才是体育的样子。”

澳大利亚拳击手斯凯·尼科尔森也发布了类似的视频来回应这则广告。

“广告宣传活动完全达到了他们的预期，但说实话，这些公司需要做得更好🙄停止在#体育 中将女性性化，”配文写道。

Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP

悉尼·斯威尼的“好牛仔裤”广告宣传活动提振品牌形象后，American Eagle股价飙升25%。

斯威尼似乎在周日通过发布一系列来自 ESPN 杂志年度“身体特刊”的照片来回应舆论的强烈反对。

这项年度活动曾举办了 11 年，于 2019 年结束，期间有数十名运动员全裸或半裸出镜。

这并非斯威尼参与广告宣传活动第一次引发争议。

2025 年夏天，她参与了美国服装品牌 American Eagle 的宣传活动，一些人声称该活动宣扬优生学和白人至上主义。

她在一则广告中说：“基因会从父母遗传给后代。”在另一则广告中，她声称“我的体型是由我的基因决定的。”

Todd Owyoung/NBC/Getty Images

本周最佳着装：悉尼·斯威尼的穿衣风格令人反感

斯威尼最初没有回应这场广告活动引起的轩然大波，导致人们自行推断她对这则广告的看法。

随后，在11月，《GQ》杂志刊登了一段对斯威尼的采访，询问她对此事的后续反应。斯威尼回应说，她对这种反应感到惊讶，但她没有道歉，而是重申了她对牛仔裤的热爱，以及她无意左右他人想法的立场。

当被问及是否想澄清自己的意图时，这位明星用一句如今已在网络上疯传的话语回答道：“我认为，当我有想谈论的问题时，人们自然会听到。”

CNN已联系斯威尼的代表和诺维格寻求置评。

CNN的莉亚·多兰对本报道亦有贡献。