Sydney Sweeney's nude sports advert has sparked another round of debate, this time involving Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian. The Reddit co-founder has explained why he believes Sweeney's Novig campaign should not be compared with Williams and other athletes posing nude for ESPN's famous Body Issue. He described the comparison as a 'false equivalency'.
The row began after female athletes criticised Sweeney's advert for Novig, a sports prediction market. The actress later shared old images of athletes who had posed nude or semi-nude, including Williams, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird. Ohanian has now argued that the context behind those athlete shoots was very different.
Sydney Sweeney's Novig Advert
Sweeney appeared nude or nearly nude in the Novig campaign, using footballs and other sports equipment to cover parts of her body. The advert repeatedly uses the word 'sports' while promoting the company's sports-focused prediction platform. It quickly drew criticism from several female athletes after its September release.
British sprinter Amy Hunt was among those who spoke out. After competing at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, Hunt looked into a BBC camera and said, 'Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,' before pointing to the muscles, hard work, sweat, blood and tears involved in elite sport. Australian Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus also criticised the campaign and questioned why women's sport was still being sexualised.
Sweeney appeared to answer some of that criticism by sharing images from ESPN's Body Issue. Her Instagram Stories included athletes such as Williams, Rapinoe, Sue Bird and Ronda Rousey, as well as male sports stars. The posts did not directly explain her point, but their timing led to widespread reports that she was drawing attention to other nude images linked to sport.
Alexis Ohanian's Message
Ohanian addressed the row while speaking ahead of the London debut of Athlos, the women's track and field event he founded. His problem, he said, was not simply that Sweeney had chosen to appear nude. Instead, he questioned comparing her commercial with photos of professional athletes.
Ohanian said he was not upset by Sweeney choosing to appear nude in an advert. Instead, he described the comparison with professional athletes as a 'false equivalency' and backed athletes who had challenged it.
He also said it was 'frustrating' that so much attention was being given to Sweeney rather than female athletes. His argument centred on the fact that Sweeney is an actress rather than a professional athlete, while elite athletes spend years developing the physical skills and conditioning required for their sport. For him, that difference changes the context behind the images.
What ESPN's Body Issue Was About
ESPN launched The Body Issue in 2009 as an annual edition focused on athletes and their bodies. It photographed athletes from different sports without clothes, with poses designed to keep the images non-explicit. The project became known for showing how widely athletes' bodies could differ depending on the demands of their sport.
Did you say the same thing when Serena Williams posed nude or Sue Bird posed nude with Megan Rapinoe?
— manateenative2 (@manateenative2) September 15, 2026
If you did I can respect that but I doubt that you did. pic.twitter.com/FBRceQQDUI
Williams appeared in the first Body Issue in 2009. Other editions later featured athletes from sports including basketball, football, swimming, gymnastics and mixed martial arts. ESPN ended the annual print edition in 2019 as part of the wider closure of ESPN The Magazine.
That history is at the centre of Ohanian's argument. He views the Body Issue as a celebration of the physical work behind elite sport, rather than simply a campaign using sports images alongside nudity. That distinction is why he backed the athletes who challenged the comparison.
Sweeney's Campaign Was To Get Attention
Novig has defended its campaign amid the criticism. Company founder Jacob Fortinsky said Sweeney was effective at attracting attention and bringing the company into the wider public conversation. Sweeney is also a strategic partner and equity holder in Novig, rather than simply the face of the advert.
Sweeney described the idea behind the campaign as simple and playful. She said its aim was to 'cut through the noise' and focus on sports, using confidence and humour to deliver that message. Still, the campaign has opened a much larger discussion about how women are shown in sports advertising.
Ohanian believes that discussion should bring attention back to the athletes themselves. Rather than criticising Sweeney simply for posing nude, his comments focus on why he believes the context behind her commercial and Williams' Body Issue shoot is different. For him, the dividing line is the years of physical work represented by an athlete's body.
