September 14, 2026 • 19 mins
There’s a social media war going on right now between several female athletes and actress Sydney Sweeney. After Sweeney appeared in a new sports betting ad wearing next to nothing, several high profile women from varying sports have likened the ad to “a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life” to sports. They’ve gone on to show highlight reels of their competitions, training and accomplishments with captions that read, “this is way a woman in sports looks like” and many of them have racked up hundreds of thousands, even a million views. But many are clapping back, calling out the female athletes, asking why it it not ok for Sweeney to use her own sexuality to empower herself? And wait until you hear how Sydney Sweeney herself has responded to the hate.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, folks. It is Monday, September 14th, and we
couldn't come up with what category to put this episode.
It's either in our sexy feeds or it's in our
women hating on women feeds. And with that, welcome to
this Sidney Sweeney is naked again edition of Amy and TJ. Robes,
(00:22):
it's not a headline that Sidney Sweeney got buck naked
once again for a viral ad. No shock there. A
little bit of a surprise who came after her for this.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, maybe not really, though, because it was other women.
We've had these conversations. It's one of those things, either
we all... Gather around each other and support each other,
maybe even when we shouldn't, when we don't want to
give hard advice.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
But then a lot of times we end up pitting
ourselves against one another, unnecessarily so, and this one seems
to fit in that category.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
This is wild that this is happening. I cannot believe
who is coming after me.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Her for this baby female athletes apparently are all outraged
that sydney sweeney's new ad which is for a sports
betting company called novig and she's naked she's seen covering
her boobs barely with footballs and tennis rackets and basketball
(01:25):
hoops and like some padding and.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Strategically placed stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But she is never, well, she's buck naked.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
She's naked, but she's super sexy. She looks gorgeous. Her
body is smoking. There's no doubt about it. She's got,
obviously she's known for certain assets. And instead of saying, wow,
she looks great, or look at her go, or I
wish I looked like that. No, it's being labeled a
kick in the face to every female athlete ever. And
(01:56):
now we're seeing many prominent female athletes posting their own
videos showing their training or their competitions where they're, you know,
being their badass selves, saying this is what a woman
in sports looks like to offset the ad of Sidney
Sweeney looking sexy and naked wearing sports equipment.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
OK, can we break this down? Can you for me?
Bottom line, the criticism of the ad is that Sidney
Sweeney is sexualizing or putting down... What exactly is the criticism?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, sexualizing athletes, sexualizing herself, putting back the women's feminist
movement by X amount of years. Yes. In fact, I
can go ahead and read to you, so I don't
have to generalize what's being said. So I can actually...
give you some of the names of some very prominent
female athletes who have put out posts over the weekend
(02:51):
outraged by this ad. I wasn't as familiar with her,
Ariane Titmiss. She's a four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist for Australia.
She put out a social media, and all of these women, again,
have like a reel of their... athletic prowess, basically. She writes,
Your jaw has dropped. I wish people could see your
face right now.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
My God. Are you serious? Babe, I'm trying to leave
everybody space to have their opinions. That's a little much.
When we're talking about an actress who was world-renowned for
her looks and a company.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And her boobs, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And a company. This is basic avatar. How does she
putting down any female athlete look?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
People have taken this personally. UK athlete Lucy Davis. She
put this caption over a montage of her competing in
track and field and swimming and training and working out.
She says, I don't know what the fuck Sidney Sweeney
was doing. She said WTF Sidney Sweeney was doing, but
it's 2026. Stop sexualizing women in sport. We didn't come
this far to come this far. 64% of girls.
(04:23):
Stopped participating in sports by the age of 16, and 68%
feel worried about being watched or judged by others. So
maybe instead of teaching girls how their bodies should look,
we should show them what their bodies can do. Actress
Florence Pugh liked it, along with nearly 400,000 others. And
then an American gymnast, she's garnered more than a million
(04:46):
likes for posting, yes, another highlight reel, of her gymnastics
competition with this caption. I don't know what Sydney Sweeney
was doing, but this is what a woman in sports
looks like. So at least she didn't take her to task,
but she's still offering a much different look at what
a woman in sports looks like. American diver Cassidy Cook wrote, like, clap, clap, clap.
(05:10):
This is, so, you know, even if certain athletes didn't
do their own posts, and these are just a few,
there have been, I mean, there are tons of posts
like this. And in the comment section of all of
those posts are other female athletes saying, hell yes. However,
oh yeah, there's another one. British sprinter Amy Hunt was
actually on live television. She was doing an interview with
(05:32):
the BBC after she raced at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
She said, Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sports
look like. Muscles, hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is
a beautiful evening. So she even took the opportunity on
a microphone to say that.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Have you found a criticism in there from a man?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
No, but I've seen a lot of criticism to these
athletes who were speaking out against Sidney Sweeney.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Okay, and are all female athletes, huh? And this is
a conversation women are having, or an argument, I should say,
a debate among women right now. Is that right? Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Please continue.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Okay, so now, however you're feeling, so this is what
women athletes have been collectively doing over the last couple
of days in response to this ad. Now, if you
look at each of these women's posts, you will see,
from what I gathered, the majority of the comments are
clapping back at these athletes.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You said overwhelmingly, right?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
From what I have seen, yes, it is a lot
of pushback. I'll read a few. Why can't women just
clap for both? I see two different body types and agendas,
both beautiful and moving. A woman's body is a work
of art, no reason for shade. Another, the ad is
not about female sports. She can use her sexuality as
(06:58):
she wishes. Not everything is about you. You can talk
about female sports without degrading her choices.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's crazy. Those two posts sum it up.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes. Then there's another one. Bro, she's literally said before
that she loves being nude for movies, and she's not
changing that, so why does it bother you that she
loves what she does? Pretty judgmental from an influencer such
as yourself. Another one. Too bad it didn't rally you
all to support a woman's right to choose what she
does with her body, and that no one has a
right to police what anyone else does with theirs. And
(07:31):
while she's not the first woman to ever use her
sexuality to see something, all the fake outrage is so
performative and tiring. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
You got more? And here is another one. And this
will get you.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yes to empowering female athletes. But Sydney Sweeney isn't the
first woman to go nude for an ad. Serena Williams
and Ronda Rousey did it for ESPN. So what about
the ad made her degrade athletic women? I'm just confused
as a woman. Why we have other women calling Sydney
out for sexualizing herself when we used to fight for
(08:05):
our right to empower our own sexuality. Is it because
she's over-sexualizing herself? But isn't she just using her sexuality
to earn herself some money? I'm confused as to why
we're tearing each other down. In no way did her
ad disrespect the hard work that female athletes have to
go through to get to their performance level. Just genuinely confused.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Okay. So isn't this just a matter of them trying
to get some eyeballs or some attention based on the
back of a viral ad involving one of the most
famous women in the world?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I don't believe that. I believe these women actually were offended.
I think they were offended. And if they, they may
have to ask themselves deeply and introspectively why they were
so offended, but I just think it was pretty, I
thought the comments clapping back at the athletes were actually really,
they had really good points.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But can't you make your point without tearing her down?
That's the only thing. You can show your video. Like, hey,
this is us too. But again, she was never at
any point representing an athlete in that ad.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
She didn't claim to be an athlete. She didn't claim
to be involved in sports in any way. She's just
an actress.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Who is talking to men saying, come bet your money
on this particular app. I mean, just.
So I was hoping it was kind of a social
media ploy, if it was something like that or using
her name to try to get some influence. I don't know, baby.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I don't know why these athletes took it so personally.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
But I want to leave space for that.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Because I personally don't believe Sydney Sweeney was taking anything
away from those women or comparing herself to those women
or in any way insinuating that she was a woman
of sports. No. So that, look, and I you i
am all about feminism and women's rights but i think
we also have to use that and give that to
(10:02):
everybody sydney sweeney has a right to make money how
she chooses and she does have a gorgeous body And
maybe it was God-given as we learned about in an
American Eagle ad from last year. And maybe it was
eugenics or DNA or whatever it is. But we all
should be able to support women who are proud of
(10:24):
what they look like no matter what they look like,
no matter how they got to look the way they did, whatever.
But I just think we all need to take a
step back and be not so quick to judge and
eviscerate and point the finger at a woman who I
truly don't understand what she did that was so offensive.
I actually don't understand.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So again, you're not a professional women's athlete. I'm not
a professional women's athlete. We don't know it from their perspective.
So I am trying to leave that space for them
to be bothered, for them to be upset. And yes,
of course, to express yourself about it. But I always, Robes,
you know this. It's how we go about having these conversations.
(11:05):
Why do you have to tear her down to make
your point? It wasn't necessary. Why do you need to
attack her? Show a different side. But we get it, Robes.
We get it because women in sport have been screaming
to the world that they have this other side. They
are sexy. They are fashionistas. They are mothers. They are
(11:28):
all these things. Robes, they're in Sports Illustrated every single year. Women,
big time athletes have been doing this for a long,
long time. Taking their clothes off, if you want to
say sexualizing them, I don't know what you want to
call it. What is that called? When they do it
over the years, it's okay because they choose as female athletes?
(11:49):
Is that what we're saying? Why doesn't Sidney Sweeney have
a choice, according to women, to do with her body
what y'all are saying you should do with yours?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Exactly. And I think that's the point. And when we
come back, you teed it up perfectly. We're going to
give you Sidney Sweeney's kind of awesome non-response response to
all the hate that's out there. Welcome back, everyone, to
(12:21):
Amy and TJ. Yes, TJ, you were hinting at what
Sydney Sweeney put out. Right now, as of this recording,
it is still on her Instagram stories. This is how
she has, I think, very cleverly responded to all of
the hate given to her by female athletes directly, posted
publicly on their social media pages. She shows a snippet
(12:43):
of her in... The new ad where she is barely
clothed with, yes, sporting equipment strategically placed. Yes. And then
it cuts straight to Serena Williams completely naked on the
ESPN's body issue. Mm-hmm. Then it cuts to Ronda Rousey
completely naked. Then it cuts to Megan Rapinoe naked. Mm-hmm.
(13:07):
Rob Gronkowski.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Naked, just with a sensor covering his penis. Of course.
The Eagles offensive line with just a helmet covering their penises.
I mean, it was athlete after athlete. Some of them
I wasn't as aware of, and I'm terrible at pronouncing
tennis players' names. But every single sport that ESPN Body
Issue has put out there, pretty much you have a
prominent athlete, male and female, and I'm talking really naked. Like,
(13:33):
I actually was like, whoa, I can't believe I am
looking at this right now. It's tasteful.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
But it's naked.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I've seen documentaries and stuff on how they put that
together and how they have to jump a certain way
and pose a certain way to make sure nudity isn't seen.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
They are completely, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
They are provocative.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yes. So is that different?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
They are sexual, you would say.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Is that different?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I don't think so. And so then she goes through,
I don't even know, there was like eight or nine
of these covers. And then it shows her at the
end with her ad, which actually, when you compare it
directly to the magazine covers, hers actually looks much less
revealing than those magazine covers.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Because she is at least partially clothed.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And the others are not.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Are not at all.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Are not at all. And I just, look, she hasn't
said anything. There was no caption. She just, in this
Instagram story, The juxtaposition of her ad with these magazine
covers from revered female and male athletes kind of says
it all. I thought it was fairly brilliant.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, as I sit here, I'm trying to think
of a... I just remember her from season one of Lotus, right?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
White Lotus, but her big thing was Euphoria. That was
where she rose to fame.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I've never seen that. I'm not sure if I've seen
a Sidney Sweeney movie.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And then there's the rom-com that I watched... Yes, I
can't think of the name of it.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
With the guy that we won't come up with. Glenn. Glenn, yes. Something.
What's his name?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm terrible.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I don't know if I have seen her movies. I
don't think I'm the target audience necessarily. But I haven't
been a fan. I haven't had a reason to be
a fan.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oh, Immaculate. You like Immaculate. You've seen her on that.
That was in 2024.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Ooh, that closing scene was tough, though.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
It was tough, but she was in that Anyone But You.
It was the Glenn Powell movie. That's the one we
were trying to do. Oh, and The Housemaid. I loved
that because I loved that book. I watched it with
Amanda Seyfried. That is a great movie.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
But what I'm saying, I don't know her to be
a fan of hers from her acting. Robes, this right
here was handled so well that I'm tipping over into
the column of being a fan. This was done well.
I just didn't have a reason to kind of care before.
She's doing these ads. She's naked in a tub. She's
naked under this.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Oh, yeah. She was selling her bath water for soap.
There you go. This is her thing.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
It's what she does.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You know what it is? She has a smoking, sexy...
Beautiful body. She's young. It's not going to be around
for long. We all know this. So I actually applaud her.
Hell yeah, girl. Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
But she's having fun. She doesn't come off as pretentious
or anything. I don't know. I'm becoming a fan.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Do you think people feel this way even more so
because it's been rumored that she's a MAGA fan? a
Trump supporter, and then the whole American Eagle advertisement where
she talked about her great genes and she was criticized
for promoting eugenics. Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,
often determining traits like hair color, personality, even eye color.
(16:35):
My genes are blue. But she got lambasted for that.
And that was when people started saying that she was
a Trump supporter and that she's MAGA. She's never once
said she was or she wasn't. She's never acknowledged it.
She's never denied it, but she's never said, yep, I am.
Trump has even said, yeah, I heard Sidney Sweeney's a fan.
Makes me like her even more. So that didn't help
(16:55):
in terms of what people thought or think about her.
But I just wonder how much that is playing into
the outrage of this new ad campaign.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Ah, so I didn't throw that one in there. It's
the idea that politics and politics is behind this. And
that's why they found an opportunity to come after her.
Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I think that maybe it plays a role in how
people view her. And so if you had, for instance,
who's the biggest female athlete right now? Like the it
girl in female athletics, Trinity Rodman, someone like that. If
she had done that. Would people be outraged? Is it
because she's not a female athlete? The thing is, I
don't understand it. She's not saying she is one. She's
(17:36):
literally promoting a sports betting app. Who else does all
the betting apps? They aren't athletes. They're trying to get
your attention and they've certainly done a good job. I
know who Novig was, didn't know what this betting site is.
It's a specifically sports betting site.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Very good point, baby.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And now we're all talking about Novig. So hats off
to them and Look, I don't know the price, the
ultimate price Sydney Sweeney pays. Is this going to affect
her ability to get cast in something going forward? I mean,
she's a– I would argue just from what I've seen,
she's a good actress. And, yes, she has a smoking
hot body. What's wrong with that? And can't we as
women say it's fine? Why are we mad at her for–
(18:19):
Using her body. Using her body as she pleases. I mean,
that was, I didn't want to get into it, but
a lot of folks who had something to say. Feminists,
my body, my choice. Feminists, when Sidney Sweeney shows her body,
what a shame she's doing it all for money. What
kind of example is that?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
My body, my choice.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Wow, the irony. It is interesting how some women suddenly
criticize another woman for embracing her appearance and sexuality. when
they supposedly believe in my body, my choice. Maybe the
real issue is that Sydney Sweeney is gorgeous, beautiful, and confident.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well done.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I just think that a lot of folks need to
actually truly ask themselves why her advertisement pisses them off
so much. It's like it's okay for one, but it's
not for the other. If you do it like this,
we'll support you. If you do it like that, we won't.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
So not your body, your choice. Your body, our choice,
says women.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That actually is kind of what they're saying. All right, well,
it'll be interesting to see how this unfolds, if it
has legs, if more people weigh in, and if Sidney
Sweeney even says anything else at all. My guess is
she won't, because after American Eagle, she said nothing. After
they accused her of being a MAGA warrior, she said nothing.
I have a feeling... She'll do the same.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
That post is good, though. Her response was good.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I agree. All right. With that, everyone, we always appreciate
you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach. alongside TJ Holmes.
We will talk soon.
Hey there, folks. It is Monday, September 14th, and we
couldn't come up with what category to put this episode.
It's either in our sexy feeds or it's in our
women hating on women feeds. And with that, welcome to
this Sidney Sweeney is naked again edition of Amy and TJ. Robes,
(00:22):
it's not a headline that Sidney Sweeney got buck naked
once again for a viral ad. No shock there. A
little bit of a surprise who came after her for this.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Well, maybe not really, though, because it was other women.
We've had these conversations. It's one of those things, either
we all... Gather around each other and support each other,
maybe even when we shouldn't, when we don't want to
give hard advice.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Oh, man.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
But then a lot of times we end up pitting
ourselves against one another, unnecessarily so, and this one seems
to fit in that category.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
This is wild that this is happening. I cannot believe
who is coming after me.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Her for this baby female athletes apparently are all outraged
that sydney sweeney's new ad which is for a sports
betting company called novig and she's naked she's seen covering
her boobs barely with footballs and tennis rackets and basketball
(01:25):
hoops and like some padding and.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Strategically placed stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Right.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
But she is never, well, she's buck naked.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
She's naked, but she's super sexy. She looks gorgeous. Her
body is smoking. There's no doubt about it. She's got,
obviously she's known for certain assets. And instead of saying, wow,
she looks great, or look at her go, or I
wish I looked like that. No, it's being labeled a
kick in the face to every female athlete ever. And
(01:56):
now we're seeing many prominent female athletes posting their own
videos showing their training or their competitions where they're, you know,
being their badass selves, saying this is what a woman
in sports looks like to offset the ad of Sidney
Sweeney looking sexy and naked wearing sports equipment.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
OK, can we break this down? Can you for me?
Bottom line, the criticism of the ad is that Sidney
Sweeney is sexualizing or putting down... What exactly is the criticism?
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, sexualizing athletes, sexualizing herself, putting back the women's feminist
movement by X amount of years. Yes. In fact, I
can go ahead and read to you, so I don't
have to generalize what's being said. So I can actually...
give you some of the names of some very prominent
female athletes who have put out posts over the weekend
(02:51):
outraged by this ad. I wasn't as familiar with her,
Ariane Titmiss. She's a four-time Olympic swimming gold medalist for Australia.
She put out a social media, and all of these women, again,
have like a reel of their... athletic prowess, basically. She writes,
Your jaw has dropped. I wish people could see your
face right now.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
My God. Are you serious? Babe, I'm trying to leave
everybody space to have their opinions. That's a little much.
When we're talking about an actress who was world-renowned for
her looks and a company.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
And her boobs, let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And a company. This is basic avatar. How does she
putting down any female athlete look?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
People have taken this personally. UK athlete Lucy Davis. She
put this caption over a montage of her competing in
track and field and swimming and training and working out.
She says, I don't know what the fuck Sidney Sweeney
was doing. She said WTF Sidney Sweeney was doing, but
it's 2026. Stop sexualizing women in sport. We didn't come
this far to come this far. 64% of girls.
(04:23):
Stopped participating in sports by the age of 16, and 68%
feel worried about being watched or judged by others. So
maybe instead of teaching girls how their bodies should look,
we should show them what their bodies can do. Actress
Florence Pugh liked it, along with nearly 400,000 others. And
then an American gymnast, she's garnered more than a million
(04:46):
likes for posting, yes, another highlight reel, of her gymnastics
competition with this caption. I don't know what Sydney Sweeney
was doing, but this is what a woman in sports
looks like. So at least she didn't take her to task,
but she's still offering a much different look at what
a woman in sports looks like. American diver Cassidy Cook wrote, like, clap, clap, clap.
(05:10):
This is, so, you know, even if certain athletes didn't
do their own posts, and these are just a few,
there have been, I mean, there are tons of posts
like this. And in the comment section of all of
those posts are other female athletes saying, hell yes. However,
oh yeah, there's another one. British sprinter Amy Hunt was
actually on live television. She was doing an interview with
(05:32):
the BBC after she raced at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
She said, Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sports
look like. Muscles, hard work, blood, sweat, tears. This is
a beautiful evening. So she even took the opportunity on
a microphone to say that.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Have you found a criticism in there from a man?
Speaker 2 (05:59):
No, but I've seen a lot of criticism to these
athletes who were speaking out against Sidney Sweeney.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
Okay, and are all female athletes, huh? And this is
a conversation women are having, or an argument, I should say,
a debate among women right now. Is that right? Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Please continue.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Okay, so now, however you're feeling, so this is what
women athletes have been collectively doing over the last couple
of days in response to this ad. Now, if you
look at each of these women's posts, you will see,
from what I gathered, the majority of the comments are
clapping back at these athletes.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
You said overwhelmingly, right?
Speaker 2 (06:37):
From what I have seen, yes, it is a lot
of pushback. I'll read a few. Why can't women just
clap for both? I see two different body types and agendas,
both beautiful and moving. A woman's body is a work
of art, no reason for shade. Another, the ad is
not about female sports. She can use her sexuality as
(06:58):
she wishes. Not everything is about you. You can talk
about female sports without degrading her choices.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's crazy. Those two posts sum it up.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yes. Then there's another one. Bro, she's literally said before
that she loves being nude for movies, and she's not
changing that, so why does it bother you that she
loves what she does? Pretty judgmental from an influencer such
as yourself. Another one. Too bad it didn't rally you
all to support a woman's right to choose what she
does with her body, and that no one has a
right to police what anyone else does with theirs. And
(07:31):
while she's not the first woman to ever use her
sexuality to see something, all the fake outrage is so
performative and tiring. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
You got more? And here is another one. And this
will get you.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yes to empowering female athletes. But Sydney Sweeney isn't the
first woman to go nude for an ad. Serena Williams
and Ronda Rousey did it for ESPN. So what about
the ad made her degrade athletic women? I'm just confused
as a woman. Why we have other women calling Sydney
out for sexualizing herself when we used to fight for
(08:05):
our right to empower our own sexuality. Is it because
she's over-sexualizing herself? But isn't she just using her sexuality
to earn herself some money? I'm confused as to why
we're tearing each other down. In no way did her
ad disrespect the hard work that female athletes have to
go through to get to their performance level. Just genuinely confused.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Okay. So isn't this just a matter of them trying
to get some eyeballs or some attention based on the
back of a viral ad involving one of the most
famous women in the world?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I don't believe that. I believe these women actually were offended.
I think they were offended. And if they, they may
have to ask themselves deeply and introspectively why they were
so offended, but I just think it was pretty, I
thought the comments clapping back at the athletes were actually really,
they had really good points.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
But can't you make your point without tearing her down?
That's the only thing. You can show your video. Like, hey,
this is us too. But again, she was never at
any point representing an athlete in that ad.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
She didn't claim to be an athlete. She didn't claim
to be involved in sports in any way. She's just
an actress.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Who is talking to men saying, come bet your money
on this particular app. I mean, just.
So I was hoping it was kind of a social
media ploy, if it was something like that or using
her name to try to get some influence. I don't know, baby.
Does that make sense?
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I don't know why these athletes took it so personally.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
But I want to leave space for that.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Because I personally don't believe Sydney Sweeney was taking anything
away from those women or comparing herself to those women
or in any way insinuating that she was a woman
of sports. No. So that, look, and I you i
am all about feminism and women's rights but i think
we also have to use that and give that to
(10:02):
everybody sydney sweeney has a right to make money how
she chooses and she does have a gorgeous body And
maybe it was God-given as we learned about in an
American Eagle ad from last year. And maybe it was
eugenics or DNA or whatever it is. But we all
should be able to support women who are proud of
(10:24):
what they look like no matter what they look like,
no matter how they got to look the way they did, whatever.
But I just think we all need to take a
step back and be not so quick to judge and
eviscerate and point the finger at a woman who I
truly don't understand what she did that was so offensive.
I actually don't understand.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So again, you're not a professional women's athlete. I'm not
a professional women's athlete. We don't know it from their perspective.
So I am trying to leave that space for them
to be bothered, for them to be upset. And yes,
of course, to express yourself about it. But I always, Robes,
you know this. It's how we go about having these conversations.
(11:05):
Why do you have to tear her down to make
your point? It wasn't necessary. Why do you need to
attack her? Show a different side. But we get it, Robes.
We get it because women in sport have been screaming
to the world that they have this other side. They
are sexy. They are fashionistas. They are mothers. They are
(11:28):
all these things. Robes, they're in Sports Illustrated every single year. Women,
big time athletes have been doing this for a long,
long time. Taking their clothes off, if you want to
say sexualizing them, I don't know what you want to
call it. What is that called? When they do it
over the years, it's okay because they choose as female athletes?
(11:49):
Is that what we're saying? Why doesn't Sidney Sweeney have
a choice, according to women, to do with her body
what y'all are saying you should do with yours?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Exactly. And I think that's the point. And when we
come back, you teed it up perfectly. We're going to
give you Sidney Sweeney's kind of awesome non-response response to
all the hate that's out there. Welcome back, everyone, to
(12:21):
Amy and TJ. Yes, TJ, you were hinting at what
Sydney Sweeney put out. Right now, as of this recording,
it is still on her Instagram stories. This is how
she has, I think, very cleverly responded to all of
the hate given to her by female athletes directly, posted
publicly on their social media pages. She shows a snippet
(12:43):
of her in... The new ad where she is barely
clothed with, yes, sporting equipment strategically placed. Yes. And then
it cuts straight to Serena Williams completely naked on the
ESPN's body issue. Mm-hmm. Then it cuts to Ronda Rousey
completely naked. Then it cuts to Megan Rapinoe naked. Mm-hmm.
(13:07):
Rob Gronkowski.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Naked, just with a sensor covering his penis. Of course.
The Eagles offensive line with just a helmet covering their penises.
I mean, it was athlete after athlete. Some of them
I wasn't as aware of, and I'm terrible at pronouncing
tennis players' names. But every single sport that ESPN Body
Issue has put out there, pretty much you have a
prominent athlete, male and female, and I'm talking really naked. Like,
(13:33):
I actually was like, whoa, I can't believe I am
looking at this right now. It's tasteful.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
But it's naked.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I've seen documentaries and stuff on how they put that
together and how they have to jump a certain way
and pose a certain way to make sure nudity isn't seen.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
They are completely, yes.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
They are provocative.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yes. So is that different?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
They are sexual, you would say.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Is that different?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I don't think so. And so then she goes through,
I don't even know, there was like eight or nine
of these covers. And then it shows her at the
end with her ad, which actually, when you compare it
directly to the magazine covers, hers actually looks much less
revealing than those magazine covers.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Because she is at least partially clothed.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
And the others are not.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Are not at all.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Are not at all. And I just, look, she hasn't
said anything. There was no caption. She just, in this
Instagram story, The juxtaposition of her ad with these magazine
covers from revered female and male athletes kind of says
it all. I thought it was fairly brilliant.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, as I sit here, I'm trying to think
of a... I just remember her from season one of Lotus, right?
Speaker 2 (14:46):
White Lotus, but her big thing was Euphoria. That was
where she rose to fame.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
I've never seen that. I'm not sure if I've seen
a Sidney Sweeney movie.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
And then there's the rom-com that I watched... Yes, I
can't think of the name of it.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
With the guy that we won't come up with. Glenn. Glenn, yes. Something.
What's his name?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm terrible.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
I don't know if I have seen her movies. I
don't think I'm the target audience necessarily. But I haven't
been a fan. I haven't had a reason to be
a fan.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Oh, Immaculate. You like Immaculate. You've seen her on that.
That was in 2024.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Ooh, that closing scene was tough, though.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
It was tough, but she was in that Anyone But You.
It was the Glenn Powell movie. That's the one we
were trying to do. Oh, and The Housemaid. I loved
that because I loved that book. I watched it with
Amanda Seyfried. That is a great movie.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
But what I'm saying, I don't know her to be
a fan of hers from her acting. Robes, this right
here was handled so well that I'm tipping over into
the column of being a fan. This was done well.
I just didn't have a reason to kind of care before.
She's doing these ads. She's naked in a tub. She's
naked under this.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Oh, yeah. She was selling her bath water for soap.
There you go. This is her thing.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
It's what she does.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
You know what it is? She has a smoking, sexy...
Beautiful body. She's young. It's not going to be around
for long. We all know this. So I actually applaud her.
Hell yeah, girl. Enjoy.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
But she's having fun. She doesn't come off as pretentious
or anything. I don't know. I'm becoming a fan.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Do you think people feel this way even more so
because it's been rumored that she's a MAGA fan? a
Trump supporter, and then the whole American Eagle advertisement where
she talked about her great genes and she was criticized
for promoting eugenics. Genes are passed down from parents to offspring,
often determining traits like hair color, personality, even eye color.
(16:35):
My genes are blue. But she got lambasted for that.
And that was when people started saying that she was
a Trump supporter and that she's MAGA. She's never once
said she was or she wasn't. She's never acknowledged it.
She's never denied it, but she's never said, yep, I am.
Trump has even said, yeah, I heard Sidney Sweeney's a fan.
Makes me like her even more. So that didn't help
(16:55):
in terms of what people thought or think about her.
But I just wonder how much that is playing into
the outrage of this new ad campaign.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Ah, so I didn't throw that one in there. It's
the idea that politics and politics is behind this. And
that's why they found an opportunity to come after her.
Is that what you're saying?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
I think that maybe it plays a role in how
people view her. And so if you had, for instance,
who's the biggest female athlete right now? Like the it
girl in female athletics, Trinity Rodman, someone like that. If
she had done that. Would people be outraged? Is it
because she's not a female athlete? The thing is, I
don't understand it. She's not saying she is one. She's
(17:36):
literally promoting a sports betting app. Who else does all
the betting apps? They aren't athletes. They're trying to get
your attention and they've certainly done a good job. I
know who Novig was, didn't know what this betting site is.
It's a specifically sports betting site.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Very good point, baby.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And now we're all talking about Novig. So hats off
to them and Look, I don't know the price, the
ultimate price Sydney Sweeney pays. Is this going to affect
her ability to get cast in something going forward? I mean,
she's a– I would argue just from what I've seen,
she's a good actress. And, yes, she has a smoking
hot body. What's wrong with that? And can't we as
women say it's fine? Why are we mad at her for–
(18:19):
Using her body. Using her body as she pleases. I mean,
that was, I didn't want to get into it, but
a lot of folks who had something to say. Feminists,
my body, my choice. Feminists, when Sidney Sweeney shows her body,
what a shame she's doing it all for money. What
kind of example is that?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
My body, my choice.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Wow, the irony. It is interesting how some women suddenly
criticize another woman for embracing her appearance and sexuality. when
they supposedly believe in my body, my choice. Maybe the
real issue is that Sydney Sweeney is gorgeous, beautiful, and confident.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Well done.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I just think that a lot of folks need to
actually truly ask themselves why her advertisement pisses them off
so much. It's like it's okay for one, but it's
not for the other. If you do it like this,
we'll support you. If you do it like that, we won't.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
So not your body, your choice. Your body, our choice,
says women.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
That actually is kind of what they're saying. All right, well,
it'll be interesting to see how this unfolds, if it
has legs, if more people weigh in, and if Sidney
Sweeney even says anything else at all. My guess is
she won't, because after American Eagle, she said nothing. After
they accused her of being a MAGA warrior, she said nothing.
I have a feeling... She'll do the same.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
That post is good, though. Her response was good.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
I agree. All right. With that, everyone, we always appreciate
you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach. alongside TJ Holmes.
We will talk soon.
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