Sharon Stone has shared her take on Sydney Sweeney’s controversial sports betting ad, and she did not hold back. The ‘Basic Instinct‘ star believes Sweeney must own her choices, but she also wants people to use the moment to support women in sports.
Sharon Stone Reacts To Sydney Sweeney’s Ad
Sweeney recently appeared in a nearly nude commercial for the sports betting app Novig. She used footballs, goalie pads, shoulder pads and other sports equipment to cover herself while telling users that the platform deals in “just sports.”
The ad soon faced backlash online. Critics accused the campaign of sexualising women in sports. Sprinter Amy Hunt and gymnast Gracie Kramer were among the female athletes who spoke out against it.
Stone discussed the backlash at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women: Los Angeles event on Wednesday. She told PEOPLE, “I think that it’s up to her to take responsibility for her actions, not up to me to judge her for her actions. It is up to me to be a cheerleader for the women who have made it through and become champions in women’s sports.”
Stone Makes Her Point Clear
Stone did not go into every detail of the commercial. Still, she made one thing very clear. She does not believe companies should use women’s bodies to grab men’s attention, especially when female athletes have worked hard to earn respect.
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“We can’t denigrate women’s sports to get men’s attention so they can gamble,” she said. Stone has called out Sweeney before. While speaking to Variety in an interview published on September 17, she joked about Sweeney’s lingerie brand, Syrn, and linked it to their ‘Euphoria‘ storyline.
“In Euphoria, I tried to get Sydney Sweeney’s character to stop being a cam girl and to come and work for me on the series I was producing called L.A. Nights,” she said. “And she agreed to stop being a cam girl — which she didn’t do. As you can see from Sydney’s new lingerie line, it didn’t take.”
Sweeney has found herself at the center of other controversies in recent years. She faced criticism after hanging Syrn bras across the Hollywood sign for a promotional campaign. Her American Eagle advertisement also divided people online.
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