Sydney Sweeney is doubling down on her controversial partnership with sports betting platform Novig. Weeks after the original campaign ignited fierce criticism, the “Euphoria” star appeared topless in another commercial that again placed her image at the center of the promotion, as reported [1] by Fox News.
The commercial, posted on Instagram on Sunday, shows Sweeney wearing only white Novig underwear. She strategically covers herself with footballs while joking about the attention surrounding her appearance and the betting activity promoted by the prediction market platform.
“There are grown men making spreadsheets to bet on what color underwear I’m wearing,” Sweeney says in the ad. “I mean, I’m flattered?”
Sweeney also jokes about someone “betting their 401(k) on a war” before drawing a distinction between those wagers and the Novig platform. She concludes, “Novig is … just sports.”
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The latest post quickly attracted encouragement from Sweeney’s fans. Supportive commenters wrote, “Keep going girl,” while another anticipated renewed outrage by declaring, “Here comes the wave of angry people.”
Billy Bush praised Sweeney’s marketing strategy as “brilliant” while discussing the controversy with Jesse Watters. Bush said Sweeney secured equity in Novig before the advertisement accumulated 40 million views.
Bush compared the uproar with earlier controversy surrounding Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign and criticism involving the ESPN Body Issue. He argued that critics eventually move on after the immediate wave of anger fades.
The original Novig advertisement showed Sweeney posing nearly nude alongside sports equipment and telling viewers that the platform was “just sports.” The campaign drew objections from Olympians and professional athletes who argued that the presentation diminished women in sports.
Swimmer Ariarne Titmus called the campaign a “kick in the face” to women who have devoted their lives to sports. Gymnast Gracie Kramer accused the advertisement of marketing women’s sports “through the male gaze.”
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British sprinter Amy Hunt also criticized the campaign. Hunt said it presented an inaccurate picture of what women involved in sports look like, adding another prominent athletic voice to the backlash surrounding Sweeney and Novig.
Sweeney later appeared to answer the criticism by sharing photographs of famous athletes who had posed nude for ESPN’s Body Issue. The images included Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki.
Adrienne Uthe, founder of Kronus Communications, previously told Fox News Digital that personal agency includes accepting choices that other women might reject.
“Women having agency also means allowing women to make choices about their image that other women may not personally agree with.”
Uthe acknowledged that both viewers and athletes were free to object to the commercial. “People are entitled to dislike the ad, just like women athletes are entitled to criticize it for their own reasons,” she said.
However, Uthe did not believe the campaign would cause meaningful harm to Sweeney’s career or public image. “But I don’t think this is materially damaging to Sydney Sweeney in any way, shape or form.”
Uthe argued that the advertisement was consistent with the public identity Sweeney had already established.
“In fact, I don’t think it’s a large departure from who she is and what her brand represents. 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.”
She also directly addressed the role sexuality plays in Sweeney’s professional image. “And she’s chosen to make sexuality a part of her brand for better or for worse.”
The Novig dispute is not Sweeney’s first major advertising controversy. In 2025, her American Eagle campaign, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” drew backlash over a promotional video built around the similar sounds of “genes” and “jeans.”
Critics accused the American Eagle campaign of carrying racial undertones, and some social media users labeled it “Nazi propaganda.” Other viewers defended Sweeney and the company, describing the advertisement as a playful jeans promotion.
American Eagle releases statement defending Sydney Sweeney ad.
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.
We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way.
Great jeans look good on everyone.”
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 2, 2025 [4]
One supporter celebrated Sweeney’s approach with a blunt declaration: “Woke advertising is dead. Sydney Sweeney killed it.” With the latest Novig commercial, Sweeney has continued the provocative campaign despite the criticism generated by its first installment.