Sydney Sweeney, 25, appeared naked posing with a ball, a racket, boxing gloves and a golf club. It wasn’t a fashion shoot: it was a commercial for Novig, the sports betting platform of which she herself is a shareholder. In four days, the video amassed 37 million views.
But the advertising applause collided head-on with real sport. Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer told CNN that the campaign is harmful to female athletes and young women who dream of competing someday. Swimmer Ariarne Titmus, the owner of four Olympic gold medals, expressed her outrage on Instagram, and athlete Lucy Davis added her criticism with the public backing of Florence Pugh.
Sweeney did not stay silent: she responded by sharing photos from ESPN’s historic ‘Body Issue,’ with Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe posing naked years ago. It is not the first time she has faced this kind of controversy — in 2025, she had already been singled out for her campaign with American Eagle. The question she left hanging: where does art end and the exploitation of the female body in sport begin?