Sydney Sweeney‘s profile has seen thousands of Instagram users slam the “unfollow” button after the actress appeared in and promoted a contentious sports betting app that obscures parts of her anatomy with athletic gear.
Sweeney posted the advertisement for the sports prediction market app Novig on Instagram last Wednesday, and it has already received 1.1 million likes. The “Euphoria” actor poses with a range of sporting goods, including footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, and hockey nets, while appearing completely or partially nude in the 60-second commercial.
Since reaching the internet, the advertisement has elicited backlash from those opposed to its portrayal of women in sports. Numerous women Olympic athletes have commented on the Sweeney advertisement, including Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer from Australia, who expressed her thoughts in a post:
“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. … How do we live in a world where monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sport is still a thing?”
In the three days following the ad release, Sweeney gained 50,000 Instagram followers. However, on Sunday, she dropped 136,848 — and on Monday, an additional 68,000 have unfollowed her, based on information from the social-media analytics company Social Blade. That being stated, the over 200,000 IG followers Sweeney lost during that period is a minor decrease, accounting for under 1% of her over 25 million followers.
In response to the criticism, Sweeney shared a collection of images and clips from the Novig advertisement on Instagram on Sunday, stating, “it’s gamedayyy @novig #novigpartner.” Sweeney seemingly addressed the unfavorable remarks by sharing a collection of covers from the ESPN Body Issue, showcasing numerous nude athletes, on Instagram Stories.
