Sharon Stone Says “Euphoria” Costar Sydney Sweeney Should ‘Take Responsibility’ for Her Nude Sports Betting Ad (Exclusive)

Clare Fisher, Amanda Champagne-MeadowsThu, September 24, 2026 at 3:36 PM UTC

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Sharon Stone and Sydney Sweeney at Variety’s 2025 Power of Women Los Angeles, October 29, 2025Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty -

During an appearance at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women event, Sharon Stone criticized Sydney Sweeney’s nearly nude ad for sports betting platform Novig

Female athletes, including Amy Hunt and Gracie Kramer, have also publicly condemned the ad as harmful to women in sports

Stone previously weighed in on Sweeney during a 2025 controversy surrounding her American Eagle jeans campaign

Sharon Stone is discussing her Euphoriacostar Sydney Sweeney’s controversial sports betting ad for Novig.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women: Los Angeles event on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Stone, 68, said that Sweeney, 29, needs to “take responsibility” for the campaign, which sparked a backlash among female athletes.

In the ad, Sweeney bared almost all as she promised viewers that the new app would be “just sports.” “Just you, your takes and sports,” a topless Sweeney tells the camera at one point while holding her breasts.

Sharon Stone at ‘Variety’’s 2026 Power of Women event, Sept. 23, 2026Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty

“I think that it’s up to her to take responsibility for her actions, not up to me to judge her for her actions. It is up to me to be a cheerleader for the women who have made it through and become champions in women’s sports,” the Basic Instinct star adds.

“We can’t denigrate women’s sports to get men’s attention so they can gamble,” the Oscar nominee continues about the ad for Novig, which shows Sweeney in a number of provocative positions with sports equipment as she encourages viewers to use Novig for betting predictions for the NBA, NFL and more.

Stone goes on to note to PEOPLE that while in high school, she threatened to sue if she wasn’t allowed to try out for the boys’ golf team, given that there weren’t any women’s sports teams at her school.

Sydney Sweeney at the Variety & Golden Globes Pre-Golden Globes Party, January 09, 2026Credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty

“I had something to prove,” Stone says, adding that she successfully “made the boys’ team.”

This isn’t the first time that Stone has waded in on one of Sweeney’s controversies.

At Variety‘s Power of Women event in October 2025, she commented on her former costar Sweeney in the wake of the younger actress’ American Eagle jeans campaign that sparked controversy that summer.

“It’s okay to use what mama gave you. It’s really fine,” the Catwoman star said at the time.

“It’s hard to be hot, and I think we all know that. It’s really okay to use every bit of hotness you have — right here, right now — and go for whatever that is, because everybody has their own certain kind of hotness, their own certain thing, and you’re supposed to go for that. Because who are you not to be beautiful? You know, who you are isn’t an accident.”

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Sharon Stone; Sydney SweeneyCredit: Victor Boyko/Getty; Monica Schipper/Getty

At the time, the American Eagle campaign and its “good jeans” tagline sparked debate on social media. Some claimed that the usage of the word “jeans” as a play on “genes” is racially charged and hints at genetic superiority. Others criticized the campaign for catering to the male gaze and taking inspiration from Brooke Shields’ controversial 1980 denim campaign.

However, American Eagle told critics that the ad campaign was “always was about the jeans“ and that “great jeans look good on everyone.”

After the controversy, American Eagle’s stock surged by 25%, according to a report by CNN.

Elsewhere, several female athletes have been quick to call out Sweeney’s Novig ad, with one Olympian calling it a “massive step backward” for women.

In a post-race interview with BBC Sport after the Ultimate Championship on Sept. 13, British track star Amy Hunt said, “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like.”

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American gymnast Gracie Kramer, meanwhile, called out Sweeney via TikTok, writing, “Idk what Sydney Sweeney was doing, but this is what a woman in sports looks like,” over a highlight reel of herself on the mat.

Kramer, 28, also penned a stern message about the ad in a post on her Instagram Stories, calling it “infuriating.”

She also slammed the ad for marketing women’s sports “through the male gaze” and called it “a massive step backward.”

“We should not have to take our clothes off to convince men that women belong in sports,” Kramer added.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”