Zendaya’s Mom Enters Sydney Sweeney Naked Ad Controversy With a Sharp Message
Sydney Sweeney is once again at the center of a heated online debate, but this time the conversation has taken an unexpected turn. The actress recently appeared in a provocative advertising campaign for Novig, a sports prediction platform she partly owns, and the reaction has now pulled Zendaya’s family into the discussion.
The controversy started with a new Novig campaign in which Sweeney appears almost completely naked, using different sports equipment to cover parts of her body. The ad quickly sparked criticism, with several people arguing that the issue was not simply about Sweeney appearing nude, but about what the campaign was promoting and the message it could send to young women.
British sprinter Amy Hunt was among the athletes who criticized the campaign. After competing at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hunt responded to the controversy with a pointed message aimed at Sweeney: “Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like.”
Sweeney later pushed back against the criticism in her own way. On Instagram, she shared photographs of famous male and female athletes who have posed nude over the years, appearing to question why her campaign was being judged differently. That response, however, did not end the debate.
Instead, another voice has now joined the conversation. Zendaya’s mother, Claire Stoermer, shared several posts on her Instagram Story that criticized the campaign. Importantly, the posts she shared did not focus mainly on Sweeney being naked. Their main concern was the message behind the advertisement and the business connected to it.
One of the posts came from a mother discussing what it means to raise daughters in what she described as the “Sydney Sweeney era.” The woman explained that she did not have a problem with Sweeney choosing to show her body, because that is ultimately the actress’s decision. Her concern was the mixed message young girls could receive when they are taught that their appearance does not define their worth while also seeing celebrities gain enormous attention through their looks.
Stoermer appeared to agree with that argument, adding the comment, “Great thinking!!” when she shared the post.
She then shared a video from influencer Jackie Johnston, who focuses on women’s sports. Johnston took an even stronger position, arguing that Sweeney’s nudity was actually “the least problematic part” of the entire advertisement.
Johnston’s criticism focused on Novig and the wider questions surrounding sports prediction platforms, how they operate, and the debate over regulation. In other words, her argument was not really about Sweeney taking her clothes off. It was about the company she was promoting and whether celebrities should be using their influence to advertise businesses connected to sports betting and prediction markets.
Stoermer appeared interested in that point as well. She described Johnston’s video as “very, very interesting” and added a raised-eyebrow emoji when sharing it.
The situation has also brought renewed attention to long-running rumors about Sweeney and Zendaya. The two actresses worked together on ‘Euphoria’, and reports about tension between them have circulated for years. According to the Daily Mail, those rumors became particularly intense in late 2025, when the outlet claimed that the actresses allegedly did not want to be in the same room because of personal and political disagreements.
There has been no confirmation from Zendaya supporting those claims, and Sweeney has previously rejected the idea that there is a major feud between them. In an interview with Vanity Fair, she pushed back against stories about problems between the ‘Euphoria’ cast, explaining that they had essentially grown up together while working on the series.
Sweeney said, “We all basically grew up together on the set, and so it’s really crazy to watch the media and social media twist things.” She also explained that ‘Euphoria’ had contractual priority over her other projects, meaning her schedule was required to fit around the show’s production.
Sweeney added, “So my schedule did not affect the show. It was funny watching everyone make up stories about it. We had the same contractual priority, so there was no possibility that someone’s schedule was slowing down filming.”
For now, Stoermer’s posts do not confirm anything about the rumored relationship between her daughter and Sweeney. They do, however, add another layer to a growing debate that is now about much more than a celebrity fashion choice. What do you think about Claire Stoermer’s reaction to Sydney Sweeney’s controversial Novig campaign?
What do you think about Zendaya’s mom criticizing Sydney Sweeney’s Novig campaign?
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