Megyn Kelly fiercely defended Sydney Sweeney against criticism of her provocative new advertising campaign for sports prediction market Novig, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
Confirmed: Sydney Sweeney knows ball. pic.twitter.com/EXQ4PzVZsi [2]
— Novig (@Novig) September 9, 2026 [3]
Kelly argued that the “Euphoria” star is being targeted partly because her Florida voter registration has been reported as Republican.
Speaking Wednesday on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” the former Fox News host rejected the outrage surrounding the campaign.
Several prominent female athletes have criticized the advertisement, saying its provocative presentation demeans women in sports.
“I don’t get it,” Kelly said, before arguing that advertisers have long used sex appeal to sell products to sports audiences that are predominantly male.
She framed Sweeney’s campaign as another example of a familiar advertising formula rather than a new attack on female athletes.
“Since the dawn of time, we’ve been selling sports to men by using sexy women in ads that air during the sporting events, in the bars where they watch the sporting events, in products around the sporting events,” Kelly said.
Kelly then suggested the response to Sweeney has been shaped by the actress’s political associations and her earlier American Eagle campaign.
That advertisement featured the slogan “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” and also attracted criticism.
“Men tend to like sports and beer and sexy women, and this is not particularly controversial — until now, until this year, until Sydney Sweeney is the woman, I guess, who is a registered Republican and did the controversial jeans ad, so she must be punished,” Kelly said.
Sweeney’s Florida voter registration has been reported as Republican since June 2024. However, the actress has not publicly endorsed President Trump or any other political candidate.
The latest controversy centers on Novig’s “Just Sports” campaign, which launched Sept. 9. In the advertisement, the 29-year-old actress appears seductively covered only by sporting equipment.
Sweeney is a strategic partner and equity holder in Novig, according to the company.
She has also said she participated in creative discussions from the start because she does not like to “just put my face on something.”
The campaign quickly drew objections from female athletes, including British sprinter Amy Hunt and former US gymnast Gracie Kramer.
Their responses emphasized the work and physical demands involved in athletic competition.
Kramer shared a highlight reel of herself competing alongside the message, “I don’t know what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like.”
Hunt also responded after competing, writing, “Muscles, hard work, sweat, blood, tears.”
Kelly argued that those objections confronted a claim the advertisement never made. “She never purported to be a woman in sports,” Kelly said.
“She never said this is what a woman in sports looks like.”
Kelly continued by quoting the advertisement’s basic message.
“She just said, ‘Sports. Sports. This is sports’.”
Her guest, Emily Jashinsky, agreed that interpreting the campaign as a depiction of an ideal female athlete required “an incredible stretch.”
Jashinsky said the criticism would have been more understandable if the advertisement had explicitly claimed that Sweeney represented a real female athlete.
“If the ad had said, ‘This is what a real female athlete looks like,’ and it’s Sydney Sweeney, like, airbrushed, looking beautiful, like she hasn’t sweat at all, that’s different,” Jashinsky said.
“There was no implication, there was no argument in the ad at all.”
Kelly also defended Sweeney’s choice to display her body and accused critics of judging female sexuality by a double standard.
“It would be a tragedy if that woman didn’t occasionally show off that body,” Kelly said.
“If I look like that, I’d be doing nude ads too,” Kelly added.
She then criticized people who objected to Sweeney’s provocative image, saying, “They’re so judgy about a gorgeous woman who wants to show it.”
Kelly ultimately returned to her contention that politics has fueled at least part of the hostility directed at Sweeney.
“When you have that person emerge in 2026, almost 2027, America, she has to be shamed,” Kelly said.