Sydney Sweeney under fire from athletes over nude sports-prediction ad
Female athletes are strongly criticizing a "hypersexualized" advertising campaign for Novig, a US sports-prediction market, featuring Sydney Sweeney posing nude or minimally clad with sports equipment. Athletes like Felicity Palmateer and Ariarne Titmus argue the campaign is damaging to women's sports and young girls, promoting objectification over athletic achievement.
Why it matters
This controversy highlights ongoing issues of gender representation and objectification in sports marketing, impacting how female athletes are perceived and potentially discouraging young girls from participating in sports.
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. 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.
Also covering this story
3 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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