Ever since the Left launched its pre-midterm propaganda campaign against AI last week, the issue has dominated the news cycle. But the uproar over Sydney Sweeney’s nude sports-betting ad, NOVIG’s provocative “Just Sports” campaign, has given the AI doomsayers some stiff competition.
The buxom actress certainly has a knack for triggering progressives. The backlash to her latest ad rivals the media firestorm ignited by her July 2025 American Eagle campaign, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.”
Legacy media outlets, from The New York Times to CNN, have piled on, accusing the actress of setting back women in sports by reducing them to sex objects. Times writer Megan Feringa lamented that “the Sydney Sweeney advert ignores decades of progress. It is time-warp stuff that hurts me so much.”
Likewise, The Associated Press noted that the ad campaign “has sparked widespread backlash from female athletes who say it is sexualizing women in sports.” The outlet cited an Instagram post from four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Ariarne Titmus who wrote, “I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. How do we live in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport is still a thing?”
The article went on to cite other female athletes including a British sprinter, a former U.S. gymnast, and even a Chinese-German rugby player, all uttering the same refrain: “The Sydney Sweeney ad is so disrespectful to every female athlete in the world.”
After the X account for Concerned Women for America LAC tried to shame Sweeney, another user responded with photographs of Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe, and other female athletes who had posed nude without provoking similar criticism.
This crowd posed nude for ESPN’s Body Issue for years and called it empowerment. Sweeney just reposted every one of them. Serena, Rousey, Sue Bird, Rapinoe. https://t.co/EelRjwpt2F
— IredcapI (@IredcapI) September 15, 2026
And another:
Yep, no comment on the fact that it has been sexualized for decades just the fact that Sweeney isn’t a flaming liberal. pic.twitter.com/m7tDJBaa64
— C B (@cbattey01) September 15, 2026
But one social media post in particular gave the game away. A female X user wrote:
Honest question for the Sydney Sweeney enthusiasts:
Besides the two enormous elephants in the room… what exactly is the attraction? 😂
Her face? Her charm? Her personality? Help me understand the phenomenon.
And before somebody types “intelligence”—please respect the seriousness of this scientific investigation. 😭🔬
Well, she asked, and the Twitter community obliged, though she was probably not too happy with their responses.
The following reply from a male X user is spot on.
I am in fact going to say “intelligent”. She was on the math and robotics teams at her high school. She restores and maintains her own cars. She’s been shrewd about managing her career. And she even shoots tactical pistol competently.
She is also, if one can judge from her public appearances, a sweet-natured and happy person. I think that thousand-candlepower smile is genuine.
She likes who she is. And she pisses off all the right people.
I am in fact going to say “intelligent”. She was on the math and robotics teams at her high school. She restores and maintains her own cars. She’s been shrewd about managing her career. And she even shoots tactical pistol competently.
She is also, if one can judge from her…
— Eric S. Raymond (@esrtweet) September 16, 2026
It’s true. Sweeney actually does come off as intelligent. One male user reported, “If I understand correctly, she adapted to the value add from her American Eagle shoot by asking and getting equity for her latest project.” Sounds pretty smart to me.
He added, “Aside from that, she’s smoking hot and she doesn’t come across as a b*tch.”
“Don’t be surprised with anti Sweeney rhetoric from Leftists,” wrote another. “They aren’t sure what a woman is.” True.
Another user identified the fatal flaw in her reasoning: By assuming that a beautiful woman cannot also be intelligent, she perpetuates the very stereotype women have spent decades trying to eradicate. He wrote: “Her post [questioning Sweeney’s intelligence] doesn’t reveal anything about Sweeney, but a lot about her own values and perceptions of women.”
Other responses included:
well, she’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous for one thing (and I’m a straight woman!). but I like her most bc she’s in love with a very pro-Israel guy & she obviously doesn’t care that the Kool Kidz all like “Palestine.” that’s courageous these days.
— Rachel-batzion (@rachelbatzion) September 16, 2026
Apart from the good genes, she’s smart, poised, fit and funny.
— Fred Salmon (@FredSal05595102) September 16, 2026
And finally, one man gave it to her straight: “Lana is jealous.”
Fact check: True
Year Lana is jealous. So strange.
— Dr of Thinkology (@bara_gen72926) September 16, 2026
Those criticizing Sweeney appear to fall into one of three categories: jealous, deeply liberal, or both.
These are the “journalists” writing hit pieces on Sydney Sweeney. Class is dismissed. pic.twitter.com/zw3A6J6L1H
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 15, 2026
For all their talk of empowering women, progressives seem remarkably unsettled by one who is beautiful, successful, intelligent, and entirely comfortable in her own skin—especially when she refuses to seek their approval. Sweeney’s real offense is not that she posed provocatively. It is that she will not apologize for who she is, conform to the Left’s expectations, or allow its outrage machine to dictate her choices. And judging by the reaction, nothing infuriates them more.
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.