Sydney Sweeney’s Ex Co-Star Weighs In Amid ‘Just Sports’ Ad Backlash

Actress Sydney Sweeney lost over 200,000 Instagram followers following scrutinization over promotional photos and videos for the betting platform Novig. 

The Euphoria actress, who was visibly absent at the 2026 Emmy Awards on Monday, September 14, came under fire for appearing semi-nude as she only covered her boobs and nether region with her long blonde hair and basketball in Novig’s “Just Sports” campign. The ad has been a subject of serious backlash, especially from many female sports figures, celebrities and social media users, who have all weighed in.

Sydney’s drop in Instagram followers is the latest amid the Novig ad backlash. According to Newsweek, the television star has reportedly lost a total of 203,294 followers in 48 hours between September 13 and September 14. However, reported to have gained an additional 102,936 followers between September 15 and September 16.

Australian Olympic swimmer condemned the ad in a now-expired Instagram story. “Not only a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is — teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity,” she wrote. 

Sydney’s racy ad seems to mirror the moves her fictional Euphoria character, Cassie Howard, made during the show’s final third season, which her Euphoria Season 3 co-star Sharone Stone pointed out during a recent interview.

For context, in the HBO show’s last season, Cassie built a career as a cam-girl who did sexual and fetishized acts for money on the internet. As the season progressed, Sharon was introduced as Patricia Lane, the showrunner of a fictional series who attempted to divert Cassie away from her cam-girl career.

Since Sydney’s real-life business ventures, including her daring Novig ad and the launch of her controversial lingerie brand SYRN, have seemingly overshadowed her acting career, Sharon has reflected on the applicable advice her character Patricia gave Cassie on the show.

“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.’ And she agreed to stop being a cam girl,” Sharon told Variety. “Which she didn’t do. As you can see from Sydney’s new lingerie line, it didn’t take.”

Despite the backlash, the actress still received support from celebrities including OutKick host Craig Carton, who compared the ad backlash with the Lindsay Clancy trial.  

“The world’s going crazy when it comes to the photographs of Sydney Sweeney. ‘Oh, we’re sexualizing women.” Craig said. Carton maintained that the same ones who were upset about the Sweeney ad also thought Clancy was a hero.

“Crazy people hate Sydney Sweeney, crazy people love Clancy. Non-crazy people love Sydney Sweeney. Non-crazy people think Clancy should be behind bars for the rest of her life,” he said.