Zendaya Refuses to Take ‘Cheap, Easy Shots’ at Sydney Sweeney Amid Sports Betting Ad Backlash
- Sydney Sweeney faces backlash from female athletes and Hollywood peers for provocative sports betting ad campaign.
Sydney Sweeney certainly knows how to get people talking.
In a new ad for the sports betting app Novig, the Housemaid star, 29, uses some strategically-placed sports equipment to protect her modesty.
Several female athletes have spoken out against the provocative campaign, as have a few of Sweeney's Hollywood peers.
Sharon Stone told People that the actress should "take responsibility" for the advertisement. "We can't denigrate women's sports to get men's attention so they can gamble," she said.
Meanwhile, Deadline reported that Florence Pugh "liked" an Instagram post from marathoner Lucy Davis, which read, "I don't know [expletive] Sydney Sweeney was doing, but it's 2026. Stop sexualizing women in sport."
However, there's one actress who refuses to pile on: former Euphoria costar Zendaya.
"After the year Zendaya has had at the box office, stooping to that low level and taking cheap, easy shots would be counterproductive," a source tells Star. "And frankly, it's all beneath her at this point."
Novig/Mega
As Star previously reported, Zendaya, 30, and Sweeney have a complicated history.
"She's not going to answer questions about Sydney, and she's not going to throw shade at Sydney on social media," says the source. "Instead, Zendaya is embracing her role as young Hollywood's most important star and keeping her hands clean."
In other words, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
"Yes, the outcry against Sydney's latest sexy ad campaign is loud and other A-list celebrities are talking publicly about it," the source notes. "But Zendaya has learned her lesson about this stuff, many times over, in fact."
Read More From Star
This story Zendaya Refuses to Take 'Cheap, Easy Shots' at Sydney Sweeney Amid Sports Betting Ad Backlash first appeared on Star. Follow Star on Yahoo so you don't miss what's coming next.