Sophie Cunningham Addresses Controversy Over Sydney Sweeney's Gambling Ad

Sophie Cunningham didn’t tiptoe into the debate. She walked straight through it.

After a week of outrage over Sydney Sweeney’s provocative gambling commercial — accused in some corners of dragging women’s sports “back decades” — the Phoenix Mercury guard used her revamped “No Hesitation” podcast to deliver exactly that: no hesitation, no panic, no performative outrage.

“Why are girls mad?” Cunningham asked. “That is literally what she does. Why is anyone mad? It is a gambling ad: men, sports, naked women. Of course, that’s going to draw attention.”

In a conversation that cut through the noise, Cunningham refused to pretend the ad was something it wasn’t. Sweeney, one of Hollywood’s most visible young stars, has built a brand on overt sexuality and bold imagery. This campaign, for betting company Novig, followed that script — by design.

Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky confirmed as much during a panel earlier in the week, explaining that Sweeney didn’t just sign off on the concept; she steered it.

“It really was Sydney who was driving a lot of the visuals and the messaging,” Fortinsky said, stressing that the company considers women’s sports “a huge component” of its platform and that they “never intended to portray female sports” in the ad.

In other words, this wasn’t a commentary on women’s basketball, women’s soccer, or any other women’s league. It was a gambling spot aimed at a familiar market.

Cunningham and her new podcast partner, skills coach Drew Hanlen, leaned into that reality. Hanlen suggested that roughly 75% of sports bettors are men. The exact number is up for debate, but the target audience isn’t.

“Regardless, that’s who the ad was for — and it worked,” the show noted.

Cunningham didn’t pretend the imagery sat perfectly with her, either. She acknowledged the discomfort many female athletes felt when the commercial first hit screens.

“I can understand when you first see that ad that like it could kind of deflate women, because it’s like we’ve worked so hard to get a little bit of respect around here,” she said.

That line will resonate with anyone who’s spent years pushing for equal coverage, equal pay, and equal seriousness in how women’s sports are discussed. Progress has been hard-earned and fragile. One hyper-sexualized ad can feel, in that context, like a slap.

But Cunningham didn’t stay in that place. She pivoted.

“When you really think about it, it’s like, screw it, let that girl do her thing. This has nothing to do with us,” she continued.

That separation — between Sweeney’s brand and the identity of women’s sports — is the crux of Cunningham’s argument. To her, the ad doesn’t erase the strides made by WNBA players, World Cup winners, or Olympic champions. It doesn’t define them, and it doesn’t speak for them.

“At the end of the day, I’m really loving seeing all these girls who are powerful, strong, showing young girls what it looks like to be an athlete,” Cunningham said. “I don’t think the ad was coming for women in sports.”

It’s a stance that refuses to hand over the narrative. Women’s sports, in Cunningham’s eyes, stand on their own merit — built on performance, personality, and presence, not on whatever a Hollywood star chooses to do in a gambling campaign.

In a week crowded with think pieces and social media pile-ons, the WNBA guard offered something rarer: perspective.