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PHOTO: (Josh Popov; Los Angeles Times / Wikicommons)
As the NFL season returned Sept. 9, a sports-focused prediction market company called Novig generated quite the buzz with the launch of its new campaign, “It’s Just Sports.” Starring actress Sydney Sweeney, who is known for playing Cassie Howard in Euphoria and the leading lady in films like Anyone But You and The Housemaid, the 60-second ad shows the 29-year-old actress in various scenes only “wearing” sports equipment on her otherwise-naked body.
Since the ad premiered on YouTube and garnered 5.6 million views as of Oct. 2, critics have condemned Sweeney’s portrayal of women in sports. Despite this, Novig has grown in popularity, evident by their jump in funding. The company’s valuation has risen from $500 million, earlier this year to $2 billion as of Sept. 30, according to the Wall Street Journal.
After the ad dropped, the most vocal outrage understandably came from female athletes.
In a now expired Instagram story, retired Olympic gold medalist swimmer Titmus called the ad “a kick in the face” to women athletes and questioned how “monetising a woman’s body and sexualising women’s sports is still a thing” in today’s society.
While a former UCLA gymnast Gracie Kramer opted to share a video on Instagram of herself participating in multiple sports, including beach volleyball, gymnastics and soccer, with the caption, “I don’t know what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like.”
Some commentators have come to Sweeney’s defense like sports broadcaster Craig Carton, who pointed out that other female athletes like MMA fighter, Ronda Rousey and tennis legend Serena Williams, did not face backlash when they posed nude on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s The Body Issue, respectively.
Clemmie Moodie, the assistant editor of The Sun, also came to Sweeney’s defense, arguing in a TikTok that Sweeney is “playing to her strengths” and that the “women versus women” backlash is counterintuitive.
And although Sophie Cunningham, a WNBA star, called Sweeney’s ad “inauthentic” on a Sept. 17 episode of her podcast, “No Hesitation with Sophie Cunningham & Drew Hanlen,” Cunningham still stuck up for Sweeney and said that the ad fits with the actress’ brand.
Based on her recent controversy and her American Eagles jean campaign, which saw Sweeney face eugenics and oversexualization accusations in 2025, her brand on its face is being the ultimate sex symbol, and a comment from the actress’ current beau, Scooter Braun suggests this.
In a Page Six article, Braun likened Sweeney to be the “modern Marilyn Monroe,” which begs the question: Has Sweeney’s latest ad campaign brought her one step closer to being “the blonde bombshell” of Gen Z?
Upon first glance at Sweeney’s ad, one might be quick to say “no” to the Monroe comparison because of the nudity, something that was prohibited in film during Monroe’s time (due to the Hays Code, an attempt by Hollywood to stop the production of films that would “lower the moral standards of those who see it”).
Known as a sex symbol that dominated the 1950s with iconic films like Some Like it Hot and The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe might not have appeared nude in a sports betting campaign, but one might argue that there are aspects of Sweeney’s career that, authentically or not, mirror the late Hollywood star’s.
The first similarity between the two actresses would be the emphasis on their appearances. In a 2024 interview with The Sun, plastic surgeon Onur Gilleard claimed that Sydney’s facial features match the “the golden ratio” and make her what Gilleard described as a “classic beauty.”
Likewise, W Magazine labeled Monroe “one of Hollywood’s most iconic beauties of all time” in a 2019 article, pointing to Monroe’s signature “blonde hair, red lip, [and] full lashes.”
One embodies Old Hollywood, while the other is a staple of that era.
And Monroe and Sweeney’s physical features are only half the story: both women’s fashion choices have received considerable attention.
The pink strapless dress Monroe wore in Gentleman Prefer Blondes and the white number she wore standing over a subway grate in The Seven Year Itch have become cemented in the Old Hollywood star’s legacy.
Sweeney has generated buzz with her red carpet looks, most recently with a sheer gown she wore at the Venice Film Festival last month.
The Europhia actress has also paid homage to Monroe through fashion. Twice. During Sweeney’s press tour for The Housemaid, Sweeney arrived at the L.A. premiere wearing a Monroe-inspired white gown, with ELLE magazine calling the gown “reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic plunging dress in 1955’s The Seven-Year Itch.”
Another time at the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Sweeney paid tribute to Monroe once more by dusting off a 73-year-old dress worn by Monroe for her 1952 Life Magazine cover and donning it herself.
The two actresses also share struggles to be taken seriously in their craft.
Despite carrying 33 film credits and earning a Golden Globe for Some Like It Hot, Scott Fortner, the owner of the Marilyn Monroe Collection, told Inside Fullerton that Monroe’s attempt at a more serious role in 1961’s The Misfits was “not well received.”
In the film, Monroe played a Rosyln, a divorcee who was a far cry from the ditzy characters audiences were used to seeing her portray. The Misfits went on to be a box office flop and Monroe’s last film before her death in 1962.
Likewise, Sweeney has faced her own hardship in earning the respect of movie critics and audiences outside of her sex-charged role in Euphoria.
In November of 2025, Sweeney starred in the biopic Christy as boxer Christy Martin. Despite Sweeney’s own physical transformation for the role as well as the film’s Oscar buzz, Christy bombed, making just over $2 million at the worldwide box office against a $15 million production budget according to The Numbers.
In an Instagram post, Sweeney addressed the movie’s disappointing numbers, insisting the film is still “the most impactful project of my life.” A few months later in April 2026, Sweeney returned to screens as Cassie in Euphoria, seemingly resorting back to familiar territory as Cassie became an OnlyFans model and engaged in full-frontal nudity.
Outside of their work not being valued, the final similarity between Monroe and Sweeney is their overlooked hobbies. Past the sultry voice and makeup, Monroe was said to be an avid reader, having a library of more than 400 books as explored in Gail Crowther’s “Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe.”
In Crowther’s book, the author shares receipts of the various bookstores Monroe frequented and other documentation that Monroe read Hemingway and Leo Tolstoy. But none of it was ever publicized during Monro’s life, as Crowther observes that journalists historically avoided asking the Old Hollywood icon about books in their interviews.
Like Monroe, Sweeney also has a forgotten hobby. Sweeney has commemorated her love for restoring classic cars by dedicating a TikTok account to her restoration projects like a 1969 Ford Bronco and a 1967 Ford Mustang.
More than 24 million people follow Sweeney’s personal Instagram over her TikTok account, despite Sweeney telling BAZAAR.com that she hopes her hobby encourages women to choose to “not to be afraid of putting themselves in a male-dominanted environment.”
Yet even with Monroe and Sweeney’s similarities, it is difficult to declare Sweeney is following in Monroe’s footsteps, especially as even posthumously Monroe’s sex-symbol status continues to be front and center while her talent remains overlooked.
In 2022, Kim Kardashian tried to pay tribute to Monroe at the Met Gala by wearing the dress Monroe wore when she famously sang “Happy Birthday” to John F. Kennedy, who she was rumored to have an affair with.
Following Kardashian’s appearance, it was revealed that the dress had been significantly damaged, with some blasting Kardashian for disrespecting Monroe. The dress’ original designer, Bob Mackie, told Entertainment Weekly that “nobody else should be seen in that dress” but Monroe.
The late Hollywood icon faced similar disrespect with the “Forever Marilyn” statue. Created by sculptor Seward Johnson, the statue had depicted Monroe’s famous pose in The Seven Year Itch and gave onlookers a fuller view of Monroe’s underwear compared to what was seen in the film.
Critics called out the statue for being sexist, with the former director of the Palm Springs Art Museum, Louis Grachos, accusing the statue of objectifying Monroe in a statement to the Desert Sun. The statue, which had previously been located in front of the Palm Spring Art Museum, was moved to a different location in 2024.
But whereas public perception of Monroe posthumously has remained transfixed on a pretty face who cannot defend herself, Sweeney’s latest stunt with Novig suggests that she might not only be embracing an oversexualized “blonde bombshell” image of herself but transforming into the next Monroe whether it’s intentional or not.
We already know what this kind of public perception cost Monroe so we’ll just have to wait and see the cost of the legacy Sweeney leaves behind.
