Zendaya’s Mom Joins the Chorus of Sydney Sweeney’s Novig Ad Critics With a Pointed Instagram Post

Celebrity feuds and their surrounding rumor mills tend to take on a life of their own, especially when family members get pulled into the conversation. Rumors of tension between Sydney Sweeney and Zendaya have circulated for years now, mostly fueled by speculation rather than anything concrete, but this week added a fresh wrinkle to that ongoing narrative.

Sweeney has spent the past several days at the center of intense backlash over her latest advertising campaign for sports-prediction platform Novig, a minute-long spot that shows her appearing nearly nude with sports equipment covering parts of her body. The ad has already generated widespread criticism from female athletes who say it sexualizes women in sports, and Sweeney has followed up by sharing nude ESPN Body Issue covers in her own defense.

Now that controversy has pulled in a new voice. Zendaya’s mother, Claire Stoermer, shared a post on Instagram criticizing the new Novig campaign, with one of the shared posts noting that the nudity itself is “the smallest problem” with the whole ad.

Stoermer’s post adds another layer to a controversy that’s already dominated entertainment headlines for the better part of a week. Since the ad’s September 9 release, Sweeney has faced criticism from numerous female athletes, including four-time Olympic gold medalist Ariarne Titmus and British sprinter Amy Hunt, both of whom argued the campaign undermines efforts to have women in sports recognized for their athletic achievements rather than their appearance.

Sweeney has pushed back against the criticism by pointing to ESPN’s annual Body Issue, which has featured athletes like Serena Williams and Megan Rapinoe posing nude to celebrate their physiques. Critics, however, have drawn a sharp distinction between those athlete-led features and a commercial campaign designed to sell a sports-betting product, arguing the two carry fundamentally different intentions.

Whew why Z’s mom ending Sydney on her IG story rn pic.twitter.com/9i1OmkavRH

— ☔️ (@unsexuaIIy) September 14, 2026

The backlash has had real consequences for Sweeney’s online presence, with the actress losing more than 200,000 Instagram followers in the days following the ad’s release. Despite the intensity of the criticism, the campaign has also continued to rack up massive engagement numbers, suggesting the controversy itself has only amplified the ad’s visibility.

Stoermer’s involvement inevitably reignites speculation about tension between Sweeney and Zendaya, a rumor that has followed both actresses since their time together on ‘Euphoria.’ Those rumors have flared up repeatedly over the years, often fueled by little more than social media interpretation, including a recent moment when Sweeney appeared to be absent from an early shot in a ‘Euphoria’ season three teaser featuring the show’s other female cast members.

Confirmed: Sydney Sweeney knows ball. pic.twitter.com/EXQ4PzVZsi

— Novig (@Novig) September 9, 2026

Reports at the time from outlets like Page Six and TMZ clarified that Sweeney’s absence from that particular shot had nothing to do with any tension with Zendaya, with TMZ specifically calling the feud rumors “BS.” Still, moments like Stoermer’s latest post tend to keep that speculation alive regardless of how many times it’s been debunked.

For now, Sweeney has continued to defend the Novig campaign publicly, describing it in a statement as a playful idea meant to bring confidence and humor to the concept of “just sports.” Whether Stoermer’s comments represent a genuine escalation in tension between the two actresses’ camps or simply reflect a broader wave of criticism the ad has already attracted from countless other public figures remains unclear.

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