Sophie Cunningham Critiques Sydney Sweeney's Controversial Ad Campaign

Sophie Cunningham didn’t dance around it.

Disappointed, but “not surprised,” the Indiana Fever guard used her podcast “No Hesitation” to wade straight into the storm around Sydney Sweeney’s latest ad campaign for sports trading app Novig — an ad that has ignited a fresh round of anger over how women’s bodies are used to sell sports and gambling.

The spot, starring the “Euphoria” actress, shows Sweeney mostly nude, her body strategically covered by sporting equipment — two footballs, a basketball hoop, and other props. The imagery, paired with the gambling tie-in, has drawn sharp criticism from across the athletic community, from artistic gymnast Gracie Kramer to runner Mary McCarthy.

Cunningham has been flooded with “text messages, DMs and comments” about it. On Thursday’s episode, she finally gave her take.

“First of all, like, does she even gamble on sports? It’s just so unauthentic,” Cunningham said. “Like, am I surprised of how she represented the brand? No. That’s what she’s made her whole career off.”

She didn’t turn it into a personal attack. In fact, she went out of her way to separate the person from the product.

“And hey, don’t get me wrong, like I like her,” Cunningham said. “Everyone knows she is beautiful. She is hot. She clearly has my chest ... And so like, I really like her. And you know what, she sticks to her guns, and she does her thing and she’s her, so like props to her.”

Then came the line in the sand. Cunningham admitted she does “not really” like this ad at all. It’s not shock, she suggested. It’s fatigue.

She told co-host Drew Hanlen she’s “not surprised” because this is exactly what Sweeney is “known for.” The formula is old, and to her, obvious.

“But why are girls mad? That is literally what she does. Why is anyone mad?” Cunningham asked. “It is a gambling ad. Men, sports, pretty much naked women – like of course that’s going to draw attention.

“Again, do I agree with it? Uh, morally, I think it’s kind of weird but like to each their own. Go do your thing, sis.”

Not an attack on women’s sports, in her eyes

Where Cunningham drew a firmer distinction was in how the ad relates — or doesn’t — to women in sport.

While many female athletes have condemned the imagery as undermining years of work for respect and visibility, Cunningham sees a different angle. To her, the ad isn’t “coming for” women’s sports, even if it brushes uncomfortably close to their fight.

“... I’m really loving seeing all these girls who are powerful, strong, showing young girls what it looks like to actually be an athlete,” she said, pointing to the wave of responses from current and former competitors.

“I don’t think the ad was coming for women in sport, but ... I think it has been so cool to see girls who, you know what, they’re muscly, their thighs touch, they have broad shoulders, they might be taller than the average girl and probably the average boy, but you know what, I think that’s what, that’s what it is. Like, you gotta embrace your power.”

Cunningham understands why the first reaction, especially from women who have fought for space in locker rooms, boardrooms and broadcast windows, might be anger. On the surface, it looks like another step backward: a gambling company leaning on a near-naked actress to sell a product wrapped in sports branding, while actual athletes grind for recognition.

“... It (Sweeney’s ad) could kind of deflate women because it’s like we’ve worked so hard to get a little bit of respect around here,” she admitted.

Then she pulled back, zooming out from the outrage cycle.

“But then when you really think about it, it’s like ‘Screw it, let that girl go do her thing.’ We can still, this has nothing to do with us.”

In Cunningham’s world, the real counter to an ad like this isn’t another argument on social media. It’s the growing visibility of women whose power is measured in vertical leaps, split times and box scores, not in how they look holding a prop.

If that’s the image young girls keep seeing more of, the next campaign won’t feel quite so loud.