(VIDEO) Sydney Sweeney Faces Backlash Over Sexualized Ad for Sports Trading App Novig as Equity Partner

Actress Sydney Sweeney is facing widespread online criticism over a new advertising campaign for sports prediction platform Novig, with many social media users, including women working in the sports industry, arguing the ad’s imagery undermines efforts to be taken seriously in a male-dominated field.

Sweeney partnered with Novig on Wednesday to promote the platform, which launched last month. Beyond appearing in the campaign, she also joined the company as a strategic partner and equity holder. According to a release from the company, Novig’s platform “combines the mechanics of modern financial exchanges with a sports-first experience, creating a more efficient and transparent way for fans to trade on sports outcomes.” The release also described the app as “the only prediction market to maintain a 21+ age requirement,” which the company said “sets a higher standard for responsible participation as the category continues to grow.”

Widespread criticism online

The campaign drew rapid backlash across social media platforms after its release, with critics arguing its imagery, which shows Sweeney’s body styled with sports equipment and uniforms, was inappropriately sexualized given the age-restricted platform’s marketing claims about responsibility.

A TikTok user commenting on a post from Marissa Womack, manager of game day promotions and programming for minor league baseball team the Harrisburg Senators, described watching the ad air on television while her children were in the room. “I couldn’t believe when that ad came on the tv. I had my 2 children in the living room I had to yell at them to look away from the TV. I don’t understand WHY they would need to create such a [vulgar] ad,” the commenter wrote.

Other criticism appeared directly in the comments section of Sweeney’s own Instagram post promoting the campaign. One commenter pointed to what they described as inconsistent content moderation on the platform, writing, “Love how @instagram allows for stuff like this but the moment I post something in a bikini, the post is removed.” Another questioned the ad’s engagement numbers relative to its reach, writing, “22.4 million views but not even 1 million likes… why? Because this is not what we want for our sports ads. ESPECIALLY when kids like and follow sports as well.” Additional comments on the post described the ad using terms including “disgusting,” “pathetic,” “sad” and “inappropriate.”

Industry voices push back specifically on representation

Some of the sharpest criticism came from women working within the sports industry itself. Womack, addressing the campaign directly in her TikTok video, framed her frustration around the broader challenge of being taken seriously in the field.

“This [criticism] isn’t about me being jealous or insecure of [Sweeney],” Womack said. “It’s about the fact that this is already a male-dominated field where we are constantly having to prove why we belong. It’s about having passions and joy working in this industry and when the only representation is sexualization, you see less and less young women wanting to pursue this industry!”

Sam Tirelli, a studio and field director for a Maryland-based sports network, also shared the ad, prompting further criticism in the comments. One user wrote, “There is 0 reason to have somebody naked just saying sports over and over again. You can make amazing ads and content without constantly having women be sexualized.”

Sweeney’s response

Sweeney has characterized the campaign in her own public comments as a playful concept centered on the sport itself. “The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports,” she said in a statement. “The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humor and a playful edge.”

In promotional material tied to the campaign, Sweeney also emphasized boundaries around what could be traded on the platform, saying, “No betting on wars or deaths, and no politics,” before adding, “Just you, your takes and sports.” A press release for the campaign included a tagline describing the effort: “Ahead of football season, Sydney Sweeney is putting the focus exactly where it belongs, on ‘Just Sports.’”

The Hollywood Reporter said it reached out to representatives for both Novig and Sweeney for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Part of a recurring pattern of controversy

This is not the first time one of Sweeney’s brand campaigns has generated significant public backlash. In 2025, her advertising campaign for American Eagle jeans drew widespread criticism after a line in the ad, in which Sweeney said, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,” prompted some viewers to interpret the campaign’s “Great Jeans” tagline as an allusion to eugenics. The backlash was significant enough that American Eagle issued a public statement at the time, saying in part, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.”

Sweeney has addressed that earlier controversy in subsequent interviews, saying the reaction “definitely was a surprise.” When asked by a Cosmopolitan interviewer about being labeled with a political nickname following the American Eagle campaign, Sweeney said she has consistently avoided discussing her personal politics publicly. “I’ve never been here to talk about politics. I’ve always been here to make art, so this is just not a conversation I want to be at the forefront of,” she said, adding, “I’m not a political person. I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics.”

As of this report, neither Sweeney nor Novig had issued a direct public response addressing the specific criticism surrounding the new campaign’s imagery. Given the scale of the online reaction and the attention the ad has already generated, further commentary from either party, or additional coverage of the campaign’s rollout, remains possible in the days ahead.