Australian Olympian Matilda Kearns has slammed Sydney Sweeney's new advertisement for sports betting platform Novig, calling it "so much worse than I imagined."
Sweeney, 29, has caused a stir over the past week with the eye-catching campaign, in which the actress appears nude while using various pieces of sports equipment to cover herself.
Kearns, 25, posted to Instagram on Sunday, sharing a video montage of the Australian national women's water polo team training and competing, alongside the words: "I absolutely fking hate Sydney Sweeney's new sports ad."
In the caption, the water polo player raged: "Like what are we doing… so much worse than I imagined too." She concluded her post by writing: "Here's some real women's sports content," adding a medal emoji.
Her post was quickly flooded with supportive comments from similarly outraged fans. "Literally unfollowed her after that ad," one user wrote, while another added: "This should be our women in sports ad!" A third commented: "Sexualising gambling is gross," and another wrote: "It's terrible! Keep fighting the good fight. This is women's sport!"
Some Fans Defend Sweeney
Not every follower agreed with the backlash. Several defended Sweeney, pointing out that the actress was simply "doing her job." Others accused the women criticising the advertisement of being "jealous" of her beauty and success.
"Easy to hate someone you are also jealous of," one user wrote. Another argued: "It still brought attention to women's sports... stop being such haters to another woman. Full stop. The end." A third asked: "Why all the hate? What ever happened to women supporting women? She didn't kill her kids or anything."
The exchange added to a broader online conversation about how female athletes and celebrities are portrayed in advertising, particularly in campaigns tied to gambling.
Sweeney is best known for playing Cassie Howard in the HBO teen drama Euphoria, which follows a group of high schoolers navigating drugs, sex and social media and earned her an Emmy nomination. Kearns represents Australia in water polo and has competed for the country's national women's team, nicknamed the Stingers, which won Olympic gold at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Why Sweeney Agreed to Appear Nude
The criticism came after Novig founder and chief executive Jacob Fortinsky revealed that it was Sweeney herself who decided to appear nude in the campaign, for what he described as an unexpected reason.
Sweeney was reportedly drawn to the platform because it focuses strictly on sports predictions, unlike other betting platforms that let users wager on a much broader range of topics. The advertising boom around sports betting follows a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal ban on the practice, opening the door for states to legalize it and prompting a wave of celebrity-fronted campaigns from betting companies.
"She said, 'I'm uncomfortable with other platforms that have markets on what colour underwear I'm going to wear,'" Fortinsky recalled in an interview with Front Office Sports, an outlet that covers the business of sports. "There's something clean about sports," she reportedly said.
Sweeney holds an equity stake in Novig, a detail that makes her willingness to generate another talking point by appearing nude for the campaign less surprising. "Sydney is great at captivating audiences and being the center of attention," Fortinsky said. "In some sense, it forces us into the national discourse," he added.
Sweeney is not the only celebrity to hold equity in a company she promotes. The arrangement, which ties a star's earnings to a brand's success rather than a flat fee, has become increasingly common in marketing deals across entertainment and sport.
Sweeney Fires Back at Critics
Sweeney has since hit back at critics of the advertisement, sharing a series of Instagram Stories highlighting other celebrities who have posed nude. She posted photos of 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, WNBA legend Sue Bird, former US soccer star Megan Rapinoe and former world number one tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, all showing off skin for magazines.
She also pointed to men who have stripped down in the name of sport, featuring NFL defensive end Myles Garrett, former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski and former NFL center Jason Kelce, along with NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns, in her round-up of naked men.
Sweeney has not directly responded to commenters who said they were "disgusted" and "disappointed" after seeing the commercial.
