WNBA superstar Sophie Cunningham has admitted she is confused by the female fury over Sydney Sweeney’s now-viral sports gambling commercial.
Sweeney has lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers and has faced a firestorm of criticism after Novig released the ad, which showed the actress completely naked and covering her modesty with strategically-placed sports equipment.
Female athletes slammed Sweeney for misrepresenting women in sports, but now basketball star Cunningham has weighed in with her take – and she’s not buying the anger.
‘Why are girls mad?’ she asked, on her new podcast No Hesitation. ‘That is literally what she does. Why is anyone mad? It is a gambling ad: men, sports, naked women. Of course that’s going to draw attention.
‘Do I agree with it? Morally, I think it’s kind of weird, but each to their own. Go do your thing, sis.’
Cunningham previously went viral when she met Sweeney at a NASCAR event, with the pair posing for a photo and the WNBA star later posting: ‘One of us forgot our t*ts at home.’
Sophie Cunningham gave her ‘hot take’ about Sydney Sweeney’s naked betting advert
WNBA star Cunningham (right) previously bumped into the actress at a NASCAR event
Sweeney has previous for provocative ads, having previously gone viral over her American Eagle jeans campaign.
The phrase ‘Sydney Sweeney has good jeans’ was perceived by some to evoke eugenics and white supremacist ideas, while others leveled complaints about the sexualization of Sweeney in the clip.
Her latest campaign with Novig has done little to dampen her growing reputation as a controversial figure, especially after the gambling company’s CEO lifted his head above the parapet to reveal she was behind much of the creative direction.
‘It was a very exciting process to work with her both on the commercial side as well as on the creative side,’ Jacob Fortinsky told Front Office Sports. ‘It really was Sydney who was driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging.’
British Olympian Amy Hunt has been front and center of the criticism towards Sweeney and Novig, first using a post-race live TV interview to claim: ‘This is what women in sport look like’.
Sweeney has lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers after the sexually-charged advert
In one of the images, Sweeney sits on top of a basketball hoop completely naked
She then doubled down in an interview with Good Morning Britain, telling the world: ‘When we’re trying to provide role models for young people and young women in sport, we really want to show that it’s about what your body can do, not so much what it looks like.’
While Cunningham didn’t agree with the backlash, she did later praise the ‘powerful’ athletes who have come out against the ad.
‘At the end of the day, 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 to her cohost Drew Hanlen on the podcast.
‘I don’t think the ad was coming for women in sport, but I will say… I think it has been so cool to see girls who, you know what? They’re muscly, their thighs touch, they have broad shoulders.
Cunningham admitted she is confused by the strong backlash and asked: ‘Why are girls mad?’
Despite the backlash, the ad has appeared on billboards in New York’s Times Square this week
‘They might be taller than the average girl and probably the average boy. But you know what? You got to embrace your power. I was tall growing up. I was taller than all the girls, all the guys.
‘My mom is 5′ 11″. My aunt is 6′ 2″, 6’ 3″. My grandma was tall, and every time they kind of saw us shrinking in photos, or trying to be smaller than the guys. Like, no, you better stand straight up because that’s going to be your biggest superpower one day.
‘Your strength, your athletic ability, how tall you are. God made you that way for a reason, and so you better use it. And I just want girls to know that, like, don’t shrink.
‘Don’t shrink to make other people feel better about themselves.’
