Female athletes condemn Sydney Sweeney's betting ad for sexualising women's sport
Olympic athletes have criticised Sydney Sweeney's betting advert for sexualising women's sport; she has not commented but posted photos of celebrities posing naked.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Female athletes, including Olympians, have publicly criticised a sports betting advertisement featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, accusing it of sexualising women's sport. The promotional campaign for the betting platform, which has been viewed tens of millions of times, shows Sweeney appearing naked or wearing very little, with strategically placed sports equipment covering her body.
The advert, released last week, has prompted a significant backlash over the weekend. Athletes such as four-time European champion Amy Hunt and Olympic gold medallist Sophie Capewell have spoken out. Hunt, speaking after her race in Budapest, said: "This is what women in sport like like 21 for muscles hard work sweat blood tears." Capewell added: "It's not necessarily that people are upset with someone have an autonomy we want people to see athletes being athletes and like The fact that being strong is great and like they're doing amazing things with their bodies and it's not just the promotional purposes."
Australian Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus also expressed her anger on Instagram, writing: "I can't describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who's dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is. Teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity." Many other athletes have posted montages of their sporting careers with the message "this is what women's sports looks like".
Sweeney has not directly commented on the criticism, but has posted photos on her Instagram story of other celebrities, including Serena Williams, posing in little or no clothing, suggesting the practice is not new. This is not the first time the actress has been involved in advert controversy. She previously faced scrutiny over a jeans advertisement for American Eagle, which sparked a debate over race due to a wordplay on the brand name.
The campaign has drawn more than 40 million social media views, and the debate over how women in sport are presented continues.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One | ITV |
|---|---|---|
| An advert received nearly 40 million views on social media. | · | |
| Ariarne Titmus criticised the advertisement on Instagram. | · | |
| Four-time European champion Amy Hunt criticised the advert after her race. | · | |
| Olympic gold medallist Sophie Capewell aired frustrations about the advert. | · | |
| Sweeney posted Instagram pictures of other celebrities posing naked, including Serena Williams. | · | |
| The advertisement was released the previous week and drew responses over the weekend. | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The BBC focused on the athletes' direct responses, including quotes from Amy Hunt and Sophie Capewell, and highlighted the advert's high view count. It also connected the controversy to Sweeney's past advertising stunts, such as selling bath water soap, and noted her subsequent posting of athletes posing naked.
- “It's the nice meeting. This is what women in sport like like 21 for muscles hard work sweat blood tears”
- “It's not necessarily that people are upset with someone have an autonomy we want people to see athletes being athletes and like The fact that being strong is great and like they're doing amazing things with their bodies and it's not just the promotional purposes”
- “Sweeney is yet to officially respond but has since posted photos of athletes posing naked”
ITV covered the story in both its evening and late bulletins, emphasising the strength of the backlash and including a lengthy quote from Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus. It also noted Sweeney's previous American Eagle advert controversy and her indirect response of posting photos of Serena Williams and other celebrities.
- “I can't describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who's dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is. Teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity.”
- “The advert was released last week, but over the weekend it generated more and more responses from female athletes who say they are outraged by the sexualisation of women's sports.”
- “Sweeney has not commented on this scrutiny this time round. She has posted a series of pictures, though, on her Instagram story of other celebrities posing naked, including Serena Williams.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.