Why ‘The Housemaid’ Star Sydney Sweeney Is Being Called an ‘Israeli Honeypot’ After Her Novig Ad?
Sydney Sweeney has built a high-profile career partly on controversy, and her marketing choices tend to travel far beyond the people they’re aimed at. After the uproar over her American Eagle ‘great jeans’ campaign last year, her latest ad has stirred an even bigger reaction.
The spot promotes Novig, a sports prediction platform that launched nationwide in early August. It debuted on September 9 with Sweeney posing with sports equipment and saying the platform is “just sports,” and she joined the company as a strategic partner and equity holder. Female athletes criticized the campaign, and CNN reported that Novig’s Instagram version racked up 37 million views in four days.
Commercially, though, the campaign worked. Novig co-founder Jacob Fortinsky exclusively shared with CNBC that in the 20 days before and after launch, trading volume rose nearly 94% and first-time depositors jumped more than 218%.
That success has now been overshadowed online by a different story. Conspiracy-minded commentators have labeled Sweeney an “Israeli honeypot,” a theory that has spread across social media and was picked up by Index.hr and other outlets on October 5.
The theory began with the music. The ad uses ‘Come Down’ by Anderson .Paak, a 2016 track produced by Hi-Tek that samples a melody from ‘Hatikvah,’ Israel’s national anthem. The Jewish Chronicle noted the sample appears toward the end of the clip, and users began hunting for other Israel-related details around the actress.
I know a honeypot when I see one. Sydney Sweeney is 100% a honeypot — for Israel. Allegedly. 😏 https://t.co/D183LoznJa
— James Li (@5149jamesli) October 3, 2026
Commentators pointed to her relationship with music executive Scooter Braun, who was honored by the Anti-Defamation League in August 2025 for bringing the Nova Music Festival Exhibition to audiences in the United States. They also cited her meeting in January with Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or, who were abducted from the Nova festival during the October 7, 2023 attack and later freed.
The advocacy group StandWithUs publicized a photo of the meeting. According to Jewish Insider, Braun became friends with Argamani after her rescue in June 2024, and Or was released in October 2025.
One of the loudest voices behind the theory is James Li. On an episode of his show ’51/49,’ he stacked up what he called coincidences, including the song, Fortinsky’s writing about his time in Israel, ‘Euphoria’ being adapted from an Israeli series, and rumors about a synagogue visit.
The sample itself is real, but there’s no sign it was meant as a message. Italian outlet Setteottobre pointed out that no statement from the company ties the song choice to Israel, and the track has been widely used in American music and advertising for 10 years.
International Business Times reported that there’s no verified evidence connecting Sweeney to Israeli intelligence and that no credible investigation has shown the campaign to be an influence operation. It stressed that her personal, professional and social associations don’t amount to evidence of espionage.
On the commercial side, Fortune reported that Fortinsky said Sweeney approached Novig herself because she liked its sports-only focus and wanted to be a shareholder rather than a one-off face. In other words, the paper trail describes a business deal and a provocative ad, not a covert operation.
The online chatter has been fueled by a second wave of speculation. After reports that Sweeney and Braun were seen at a synagogue in Greenwich, Connecticut during Rosh Hashanah, some outlets suggested she might be considering converting to Judaism.
There’s no confirmation of that. Until Sweeney or Braun speaks publicly, those reports remain rumor, and every outlet that has covered them includes the same caveat.
The episode shows how a viral ad can turn into a pile of speculation. Novig’s strategy was to create attention, and Forbes described the brand as accepting a trade-off of goodwill for algorithm-driven reach.
The result was exactly that, with one theory after another. A soundtrack choice and a few publicized associations were enough to spin a story about a real person that no credible reporting supports.
What do you make of the “Israeli honeypot” theory surrounding Sydney Sweeney?
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