Would it be incredibly unfashionable to defend Sydney Sweeney? You may or may not have heard that the Euphoria star has done an ad for a sports betting site. Sorry, I think we still have to call them “sports prediction markets” in the United States, which recently stopped legalizing sports betting and is acting like a complete teenager about the whole thing. Anyway, among other poses, the ad shows a naked Sydney holding a pair of footballs over her breasts, which are (and I think she’d like us to acknowledge this) among the best in Hollywood. Maybe THE best. Listen, it is what it is. Life would be very boring if we couldn’t say it with a wink. Forgive me. In fact, life is very, very boring, because this announcement has sparked another firestorm centered around Sydney Sweeney advertising. (Last year, a lunatic genuinely suggested that his American Eagle ad for “good jeans” had something to do with white supremacy and eugenics.) Its latest product endorsement has drawn the ire of a cascade of female athletes, who have variously described it as a degrading female sport, a sexualized representation of athletes, and “a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her art.” [and] every woman who enjoys sport for what it really is: teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity.” Come on. With all due respect, I don’t think it’s a kick in the face for any of those things. I don’t want to be a crazy optimist, but the best thing about where women’s sport has come today is that it feels so much bigger, stronger and more compelling than whether or not Sydney Sweeney got her tits out for a gambling advert. I can’t help it. Feeling that it would have been better for women’s sport just isn’t even mention the nude gambling ad and, if necessary, maybe focus on the part of the game instead of the woman advertising it. I definitely haven’t run the numbers on this, but my gut tells me that gambling ruins a lot more lives than Sydney Sweeney does. Honestly, not everyone has to be the same and on the same message, and I couldn’t be more convinced that Sweeney contributes to the joy of the nations I love. who ignore a lot of bigger issues but have very strong views on sexy, and even slightly sexist, advertising campaigns. I really loved it when, after one controversy or another a couple of years ago, Sydney posted a photo of herself in a sweatshirt that said: “SORRY FOR BIG TITS AND RIGHT OPINIONS” in Venice for the Venice Film Festival, September 4, 2026. Photo: Stefano Mazzola/GC. ImagesThe fact that she has emerged as a punching bag for such frequent culture wars says a lot more about the predictable, playable nature of her serial detractors than it does about her. In another ad campaign last year, a fashion analyst breathlessly told the New York Times: “It seems like she’s not ashamed or ashamed of promoting all these different projects Hmm.” Miu And Armani Beauty. The previous year, a columnist had described Sydney as “problematic but shameless,” which, ironically, I found somewhat problematic. I have to say that I’m a big fan of women not being made to feel ashamed unless what they’ve done is actually pretty bad. In fact, it was after a veteran producer and film studies professor publicly dismissed her as unpretty and bad at acting. Hollywood: “This whole industry, people say, is ‘women empowering other women.’ None of that is happening. This is all fake and a cover for all the other shit they say behind everyone’s back.” Incredible. Because where’s the lie? Inevitably, she was the one who was branded as not being a sister for saying it. A few months later, the non-insult was added to the non-injury once it was revealed that Sydney was dating Scooter Braun, Taylor Swift’s former nemesis and Justin Bieber’s considerably older manager, who is something of a music industry vampire, but not in an attractive way. I saw someone who obviously liked Sweeney lamenting this romance as “like a wonderful 19-year-old signing up for Al-Nassr,” which is a funny joke about the level of seriousness with which we should treat other people’s dating decisions. Don’t worry about it, guys! It’s not like you have to have sex with Scooter Braun. She’s doing it for you: Relax. from Guardian about what they’ve been discussing, thinking, reading and more after the newsletter’s promotion. Ultimately, I always feel somewhat obligated to defend Sydney’s right to do whatever stupid thing she feels like in her twenties, safe (if not healthy) in the knowledge that she’ll be forced to spend her entire thirties and probably her entire forties atoning for every single one of them in every interview, where every reporter will actually want her to express embarrassment and/or personal growth. It must be endlessly boring. fewer repressed, sad things to do with our time. While we spend far too much time sorting that out, I hope Sweeney finds a way to apparently not give a shit, and that everyone else feels they could have more fun if they took a leaf out of his book now and then. Marina Hyde is a columnist for The Guardian. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to email a response of up to 300 words to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
