Sharon Stone Backed Sweeney. Now She Says 'Take Responsibility.'

Sharon Stone once told Sydney Sweeney to "use every bit of hotness you have, right here, right now." This week she told People that Sweeney must "take responsibility for her actions" over the Novig sports betting ad, and added a line that sharpened the whole picture: "We can't denigrate women's sports to get men's attention so they can gamble."

First she was a defender, then she was not

Stone's original statement, reported by Yahoo News UK, came earlier in the Novig controversy, before the specific backlash from women's sports advocates had crystallized. She positioned it as a defense of female bodily autonomy: her right to make the choice, Stone's role to cheer her on.

The new comments, made on September 23 and reported by Yahoo Entertainment, came after critics had spent two weeks arguing that nude celebrity bodies plus a gambling product equals a specific kind of harm to female athletes. Stone landed on that argument, not the personal one.

At a glance

The reversal: Stone previously defended Sweeney's right to use her physical appeal, telling her to "use every bit of hotness you have." She has since told People that Sweeney must "take responsibility for her actions."
The new quote: "We can't denigrate women's sports to get men's attention so they can gamble." (Stone to People, September 23, 2026)
The distinction: Stone's shift was not from defending Sweeney personally to attacking her. It was from a general bodily-autonomy position to a specific objection about gambling advertising in a women's sports context.
Sweeney's response: Sweeney has not responded to Stone's new comments or to the women's sports dimension of the broader backlash. Her original campaign statement described the concept as "put the focus entirely on sports."
Background: Stone and Sweeney are former Euphoria costars. They last generated a shared headline in September 2026 when Stone joked in a Variety interview that the show's lingerie subplot "didn't take."

The quote that explains the turn

Stone told People: "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."

Read it carefully and the pivot is precise. Stone is not reversing on whether Sweeney had the right to do it. She is saying the outcome matters, and the outcome in this case is that the backdrop for gambling promotion is now female athletic achievement. That is a different argument than "she should not have been naked."

Why Stone is not the villain of this story

The previous Stone and Sweeney story we tracked was a Variety interview where Stone joked that her Euphoria character had failed to reform Sweeney's cam girl character, pointing at the Syrn lingerie line as proof. That piece read warm. This one reads different because the Novig fallout gave Stone a frame that the lingerie joke did not: the question of what specifically is being sold, to whom, and at whose expense.

A 68-year-old actor who has spent decades defending women's right to be seen on their own terms is not retreating when she draws a line at the intersection of female bodies and sports gambling. She is distinguishing between the general principle and a specific deployment of it.

Sweeney has said nothing

Sweeney has not publicly addressed the backlash since her original campaign statement, which described the concept as "simple: cut through the noise and put the focus entirely on sports." She has not responded to Stone's new comments. Whether she engages with the women's sports dimension of the criticism or lets the silence run is the remaining open question.

Watch whether Stone's remarks land in the broader coverage as a celebrity feud or as a substantive position on gambling advertising and female athletes. The framing matters because it sets the terms for whatever Sweeney eventually says, if she says anything.

Ad Watch News is an independent commentary site with no affiliation to Sydney Sweeney, Sharon Stone, Novig, or People magazine. We cover this as a case study in celebrity positioning and the advertising controversies that test it. Every quote above is drawn from the outlets linked in the text and listed below.

Sharon Stone Backed Sweeney. Now She Says 'Take Responsibility.'

First she was a defender, then she was not

At a glance

The quote that explains the turn

Why Stone is not the villain of this story

Sweeney has said nothing

Sources & further reading

SodaStream Boss: 'We Made a Mistake' on the Johansson Super Bowl Spot

Sydney Sweeney's Novig Ad Won the Attention War, Data Shows: 'Out-Attention Them'

Sydney Sweeney Leads Britney Biopic Race: 'Profile and Range'