Sydney Sweeney Faces Backlash Over Novig Betting Campaign

Sydney Sweeney has appeared in a new Instagram advertising campaign for sports prediction platform Novig. The video received 1.2 million views after being published on September 9, 2026.

In the 60-second ad, Sweeney poses with sports equipment and appears partially or fully nude. She explains that Novig does not offer bets on war, death or politics, unlike some other prediction markets such as Polymarket. In the ad, Sydney Sweeney states:

Only you, your predictions and sports.

The campaign received criticism from users who accused the actress of sexualising women in sport, including female Olympic athletes. Despite the backlash, Sweeney gained 50,000 new followers within three days of the ad’s release.

However, Social Blade data shows that nearly 137,000 people later unfollowed her on Sunday, while she gained only around 68,000 new followers that day. Overall, Sweeney lost more than 200,000 followers, representing less than 1% of her audience of nearly 25 million.

Sweeney later posted more photos and videos from the campaign. She described its message as confident, humorous and focused entirely on sport.