Actress Sydney Sweeney has released a second advertisement for the sports prediction market platform Novig, appearing topless and covered only by footballs while wearing white Novig underwear, weeks after a similar campaign drew sharp criticism from female athletes.
In the new ad, posted to Instagram on Sunday, Sweeney says, “There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what color underwear I’m wearing. I mean, I’m flattered?” She goes on to joke about someone “betting their 401(k) on a war” before delivering the brand’s tagline: “Novig is … just sports.”
The follow-up ad has drawn supportive comments from fans, including messages telling her to “keep going” and predicting “the wave of angry people” that would likely follow.
Backlash to the First Campaign
Sweeney’s original Novig advertisement showed her posing nearly nude with sports equipment while repeating the same “just sports” line. That campaign prompted criticism from several prominent female athletes who said it sexualized women in sports rather than promoting it.
Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus called the ad a “kick in the face” to women who have dedicated their lives to athletics. Gymnast Gracie Kramer said the campaign marketed women’s sports “through the male gaze,” and British sprinter Amy Hunt argued it presented an inaccurate picture of what female athletes actually look like.
Sweeney appeared to push back on the criticism by sharing images of well-known athletes — including Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki — who had previously posed nude for ESPN’s Body Issue.
A Question of Choice
Adrienne Uthe, founder of Kronus Communications, told Fox News Digital that Sweeney’s decision to pose for the ad is ultimately a matter of personal agency.
“Women having agency also means allowing women to make choices about their image that other women may not personally agree with. People are entitled to dislike the ad, just like women athletes are entitled to criticize it for their own reasons. But I don’t think this is materially damaging to Sydney Sweeney in any way, shape or form.”
Uthe added that the ad fits with the image Sweeney has already cultivated. “She’s a beautiful woman right now at the peak of her career, and she ultimately can decide which projects she wants to take and which ones she doesn’t,” Uthe said, noting that Sweeney “has chosen to make sexuality a part of her brand for better or for worse.”
Novig has defended the original advertisement as a “fun idea” built on “confidence, humor and a playful edge.”
This is not the first time one of Sweeney’s advertising deals has sparked controversy. Her 2025 American Eagle campaign, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” drew criticism over a promotional video playing on the words “genes” and “jeans,” with some online commentators accusing it of carrying racial undertones. Others dismissed the criticism, with one supporter writing, “Woke advertising is dead. Sydney Sweeney killed it.”
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