The online firestorm over a Sydney Sweeney advertisement for the sports betting platform Novig has a glaring inconsistency, according to a new column in The Daily Wire. The piece, published as part of the outlet’s culture and lifestyle section, argues that the athletes and social media users condemning the ad for sexualizing women’s sports are simultaneously silent on what the author calls a far more consequential issue: the participation of biological men in women’s athletic competitions.
The controversy began after Novig released a promotional spot featuring Sweeney, an actress and equity partner in the company, draped over a pool table in branded underwear while reciting the word “sports” to a beat. The ad, which has racked up tens of millions of views, drew immediate criticism from prominent female athletes who said it undermined the seriousness of women’s sport.
Four-time Australian Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus posted on Instagram that she could not describe how infuriated she felt, asking how society still lives in a world where monetizing a woman’s body and sexualizing women’s sport remains acceptable. British sprinter Amy Hunt, speaking to the BBC shortly after a race, said the ad failed to represent what women in sport actually look like, citing muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, and tears.
Those reactions sparked a broader social media trend in which female athletes posted videos of themselves deadlifting, sprinting, and flexing, captioning the clips with variations of “this is what women in sport look like.” U.S. gymnast Gracie Kramer, who is credited in the Daily Wire piece with helping launch the trend, told the BBC she wanted to uplift women and remind them that such ads are not the only thing that matters. In a separate post featuring herself and friends in swimwear and sports bras, Kramer wrote that women’s value extends far beyond appearance.
A Divide Over Who Gets to Compete
The Daily Wire column zeroes in on the comment sections under those posts, where the conversation quickly turned to the debate over transgender inclusion in women’s sports. One supportive comment urged the same enthusiasm for getting men out of women’s sports. A reply accused that user of spreading transphobia. A third commenter, described in the piece as appearing to be a man, wrote that it was amazing women were attacking women while protecting men in women’s spaces.
The author seizes on that exchange as evidence of a double standard. The column questions why the same contingent expressing outrage over a pretty woman in a provocative ad seems untroubled by biological males competing on the equal playing field. It presents a blunt cultural scorecard: women are welcome in sport, but only if they don’t lean too far into their own bodies, politics, or voices, while men who identify as women face no such restrictions.
The piece also notes that Sweeney has an athletic background. In an interview with Complex, the actress said she grew up loving sports, played on soccer, softball, and snow ski teams, learned to slalom ski as a child, and trained in MMA. She added that she loves watching hockey and boxing and has deep appreciation for fighters.
The column argues that the ad was never really about women’s sports. It suggests the commercial is designed to be tantalizing for a prediction market, and that it says little about who represents female athletes. The author acknowledges that it is entirely possible to support women’s sports without condoning commercialized sexuality or gambling itself, but insists the outrage is aimed at the wrong target.
Where the Criticism Should Go, According to the Column
The Daily Wire piece concludes that if the energy currently directed at Sweeney were redirected, it could actually protect women’s sports for girls and women, including those who happen to look like Sydney Sweeney. The author expresses hope that women can find a way to support one another rather than turning on each other over an advertisement.
The column is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s culture and lifestyle vertical. It reflects the outlet’s opinion and analysis rather than original reporting on the Novig campaign.
The episode adds to a broader, ongoing national argument over the boundaries of women’s athletics, commercial marketing that uses female bodies to sell products, and how public figures navigate the intersection of celebrity, sports, and identity politics. For now, the Sweeney ad remains the flashpoint, but the column makes clear that the author sees a much larger fight underneath it.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/sydney-sweeney-outrage-has-a-pretty-obvious-blind-spot