Sydney Sweeney Loses 200,000 Instagram Followers as Female Athletes Slam Nude Sports-Betting Ad

Sydney Sweeney’s latest ad campaign has cost her more than 200,000 Instagram followers, according to social media analytics firm Social Blade (via Variety). In the commercial for the sports-betting website Novig, the actress appears nude, with her body solely obscured by football, basketball, tennis, and hockey equipment. Though Sweeney’s Instagram post sharing the ad has garnered more than 1.1 million likes, female athletes have expressed their concern over its sexualization of women in sports. Per data from Social Blade, Sweeney’s Instagram followers increased by 50,000 in the three days after the ad was posted on Wednesday, September 9th. On Sunday, however, she lost 136,848 followers, with another 68,000 accounts unfollowing on Monday. While losing 200,000 followers would greatly impact many Instagram accounts, that’s not the case for Sweeney. The number represents less than 1% of her 25.7 million followers. Responding to the Novig ad, Ariarne Titmus, a retired four-time Olympic gold winner for Australia, wrote: “I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this. Not only is it a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but ever...