Sydney Sweeney 'hits back' against backlash over nude sports betting advert

Sydney Sweeney appears to have hit back at the recent backlash after she posed nude in a new betting advert.

The 29-year-old star isn’t a stranger to controversy, having previously sparked debate with her American Eagle jeans ad and leaving viewers shocked with her Euphoria character Cassie’s antics in the last season of the show.

This week, she managed to get people talking again after she stripped off and posed with various balls and bits of sporting equipment in an advert for sports betting company Novig.

In a statement about the ad campaign, Sweeney said: “The campaign was about embracing a fun idea.

“The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports. The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humour and a playful edge.”

Sydney Sweeney in the Novig advert

However, the ‘humour and playful edge’ were not to everyone’s taste and the risqué ad has garnered a backlash, with one viewer branding it ‘vulgar’ and others saying that it was ‘damaging’ to women in sports.

Marissa Womack, manager of game day promotions and programming for minor league baseball team the Harrisburg Senators, said: “This [criticism] isn’t about me being jealous or insecure of [Sweeney]. … It's about the fact that this is already a male-dominated field where we are constantly having to prove why we belong. It's about having passions and joy working in this industry and when the only representation is sexualization, you see less and less young women wanting to pursue this industry!”

Another wrote: “Thank you for undoing everything women try to build in sports.”

A third said: "Thanks for putting this commercial on public television for my kids to see! Super disgusting."

While someone else commented: “This is a slap in the face to every professional female athlete.”

But it seems Sweeney is taking the criticism in her stride.

Sweeney seems to have taken aim at the backlash (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)

On Sunday (13 September) evening, she shared another clip from the advert to her Instagram Stories, and then followed that up with a selection of top athletes who have also posed nude- and seemingly didn’t face the same level of scrutiny.

The actor shared snaps of Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe and Caroline Wozniacki all posing naked in magazines.

She even shared a handful of men who had done the same, including Jason Kelce, Myles Garrett, Rob Gronkowski and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Sweeney didn’t directly respond to the growing backlash but seems to have used her social media to point out she’s not the first star to get her kit off.

Jacob Fortinsky, co-founder and CEO of Novig said in a statement shared with Variety: “Sports fans deserve a prediction market built specifically for them.

“There are many places where people can engage with prediction markets across different categories. Our focus is sports, and by dedicating ourselves entirely to sports, we have built a better experience for fans. Sydney helped bring that message to life in a way that’s impossible to ignore.”

LADbible has contacted Sydney Sweeney's representatives and Novig for comment.