Actress Sydney Sweeney lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers following the release of a provocative advertisement that drew widespread criticism from female athletes for allegedly sexualizing women’s sports.
The 29-year-old “Euphoria” star appeared in an advertisement for Novig, a sports-focused prediction market in which she holds an equity stake.
The commercial showed Sweeney posing without clothing while strategically positioned sports equipment covered her body. It promoted Novig’s pledge to offer markets involving “just sports” rather than politics, war or other subjects.
The advertisement quickly went viral after its release last Wednesday. It accumulated tens of millions of views across Instagram and X while generating heated debate over its portrayal of women and athletics.
Sweeney initially gained approximately 50,000 Instagram followers after the commercial appeared, according to data cited from the analytics company Social Blade.
Her account subsequently lost 136,848 followers Sunday and approximately 68,000 more Monday, pushing the reported decline above 200,000.
The losses represented less than 1% of Sweeney’s audience. Her Instagram account still had more than 25 million followers as of Tuesday.
The timing connected the decline to the advertising controversy, although publicly available follower data does not establish why each individual account stopped following her.
Numerous prominent female athletes condemned the commercial, arguing that it reduced women’s participation in sports to physical appearance.
British sprinter Amy Hunt addressed the controversy after competing in the 200-meter race at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” Hunt said during her post-race interview, pointing to the competitors’ muscles, training, sweat and sacrifice.
Retired Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, described the advertisement as “an absolute joke” and said it was insulting to women who dedicated their lives to athletic achievement.
“How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?” Titmus wrote, according to ABC News.
American gymnast Gracie Kramer responded with footage of herself training alongside the message, “This is what a woman in sport looks like.” Other athletes adopted similar messaging while sharing images of competition and training.
Sweeney defended the campaign as a playful effort to promote Novig’s exclusive focus on sports markets.
“The concept is simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports,” she said. “The campaign brings that idea to life with confidence, humor and a playful edge.”
Sweeney also shared photographs of female athletes who previously posed nude for magazines. The examples included Serena Williams, Ronda Rousey, Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Caroline Wozniacki.
Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky said Sweeney approached the company and played a central creative role in the campaign.
“It really was Sydney who was driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging,” Fortinsky told Front Office Sports.
Fortinsky said Novig did not intend to depict women’s sports and described Sweeney as an actress communicating the platform’s focus. He said the company was pleased with the campaign’s overall response despite the criticism.
The controversy significantly expanded Novig’s visibility. Its post featuring the advertisement received more than 12 million views on X, while the Instagram version surpassed 47 million views.
Fortinsky said the campaign performed approximately 400 times better than the company’s preceding Instagram video. He argued that Sweeney’s ability to attract attention had successfully moved Novig into the national conversation.
The campaign follows Sweeney’s controversial 2025 American Eagle advertisement, which used a wordplay involving “jeans” and “genes.” Critics accused that campaign of promoting racial or eugenicist themes, allegations the company rejected.
Sweeney has not indicated that she regrets participating in the Novig advertisement. The actress and company have instead continued defending the campaign while athletes and other critics maintain that it presented a damaging image of women’s sports.
