Sydney Sweeney broke the Internet a few weeks ago when she wore nothing but sports equipment (like footballs, hockey pads, and even soccer cleats) for a viral advertising partnership with betting ad Novig. The racy video has gotten 3 million views at the time of this writing and is so popular that Novig put an ad in front of their ad on YouTube. You can’t make this stuff up. But not everyone was so intrigued about Sweeney’s viral moment. A slew of female athletes spoke out against the “just sports” bent. Now, Pro Golfer Charley Hull would like to take a moment to defend the actress.
My opinion on the Sydney Sweeney advert, people are generally getting pissed off over an actress/model, modeling in an advert. That is quite literally her job. Like, not everything needs a… psychological breakdown or a public inquiry.
Athletes like Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus, sprinter Amy Hunt and gymnast Gracie Kramer, among others, found reasons to speak negatively about Ms. Sweeney’s ad. Titmus even called it “a massive step backward” on her Instagram Stories, but Hull feels differently, namely noting the Euphoria star was never claiming to be an athlete or to speak for women in sports. She told Heavy:
Sometimes a pretty woman is just a pretty woman in an advert. Like, the world will keep spinning. And I think she owns part of that company as well. And she wasn’t saying she’s an athlete. … It’s crazy.
Hull mentioned the Novig ad was a business decision from the actress, which squares with the company confirming it was Sweeney who came to them with the partnership. It worked, too; the viral video has led to Novig becoming a household name and earning a higher valuation.
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Hull also called out some of the athletes who felt comfortable taking shots at Sydney Sweeney, noting they are frequently seen in bikinis on their own social media. She’s not mad about the bikinis or anything, but she says if Sweeney can’t wear sports equipment as a non-athlete, she thinks it’s a little hypocritical for non-actresses and models to be complaining then posting their own glam photos online, as if they are models and actresses themselves.
If you look at half of them women that are complaining about it, you go on their Instagram pages, they’re posting in bikinis and stuff. If they’ve got that opinion about Sydney Sweeney, surely they shouldn’t be on their Instagram posting in a bikini because they’re not an actress/model.
The comment is similar to how Sweeney herself seemingly feels after she defended her position by posting shots of many famous sports stars posing for the ESPN Body Issue sans clothing in recent years. Meanwhile, Hull herself recently garnered attention for diving into the realm of bikini pics herself. She’s going to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue this year.
Outside of modeling for the famous edition of the magazine, Hull has done tidily, just as Sweeney has, accumulating a reported $12.8 million in golf prize money and sponsorship deals during her career so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if both boss ladies saw a little bit of themselves in each other.
