Sydney Sweeney is seemingly — and subtly — hitting back at swirling commentary about her stripped-down ad campaign for sports betting site Novig.
“It’s game dayy,” Sweeney, 29, wrote in a sponsored Sunday, September 13, Instagram Stories post alongside nude images from her Novig photoshoot.
In follow-up slides, Sweeney shared clothes-free images of pro athletes Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Caroline Wozniacki, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski, Karl-Anthony Towns, in addition to Jason Kelce and the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line during their respective covers for ESPN’s Body Issue.
Sweeney didn’t publicly share the reason behind her decision to post the photographs. Us reached out to a rep for the actress for comment.
Sweeney, a new strategic partner and equity holder for Novig, debuted her ad campaign earlier this month. In a series of images, the Euphoria alum posed naked in front of equipment for various sports, including baseball, hockey, football and tennis.
The images were swiftly met with online backlash, with social media users criticizing the allegedly inappropriate ad for “setting women back 100 years.”
Sweeney has not publicly addressed the controversy, though revealed in a statement that the campaign was focused on “embracing a fun idea.”
“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.”
The Christy star has long been candid about embracing — and unapologetically flaunting — her curves regardless of body-shaming criticism.
“I see it, and I just can’t allow myself to have a reaction,” Sweeney told Variety in March 2024. “I don’t know how to explain it; I’m still trying to figure it out myself. People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want because they believe that I’ve signed my life away. It’s this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over.”
Sweeney has particularly faced judgment over her Euphoria character Cassie Howard’s wardrobe and sexualized story arcs.
“It’s fascinating to see how I play a character that gets judged and thrown around and talked about because of her body,” the Syrn founder told The Times of London in May 2025. “Instead of being a lesson to the viewer, they mimic and shadow the exact same thing. A woman’s body is beyond empowering and beautiful and sexy and all the things. And I think that one day I will be able to have control of the narrative of my body. I’ll take the power.”
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