Cassidy Gray calls the Novig ad "idiotic" and "senseless"

Canadian alpine skier; 2026 Winter Olympian

It’s not a joke when your life is actually you being a female athlete, and you being sexualized or not taken seriously and not given the same opportunities, and then you see one of the most famous actresses in the world going and completely wiping away all the work that you have done to be taken seriously... I fear you’re just out of touch, because it really is that deep.
Open source (opens in a new tab)Sydney Sweeney’s ‘sexualized’ sports betting ad slammed by Canadian athletes

Source and context

Reporting

Sydney Sweeney’s ‘sexualized’ sports betting ad slammed by Canadian athletes (opens in a new tab)

About this source

CBC News report quoting Cassidy Gray’s TikTok video and Molly Carlson’s Instagram post, plus Jacob Fortinsky’s launch-day quote.

Before the quotation

Posted in a TikTok video on or around September 14, 2026.

After the quotation

Quoted and described directly by CBC News.

How this statement is classified

Condemned

Case context: Sydney Sweeney’s Novig "Just Sports" ad draws backlash over sexualizing women’s sport

The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.

Why this label?

Gray directly calls the ad "idiotic" and "senseless" and rejects the framing of it as a harmless joke, an express denunciation.

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People and groups discussed
Novig, Sydney Sweeney

More from this case

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Marina Hyde

Come on. With respect, I just don’t think it’s a kick in the face for any of those things... I can’t help feeling it would have been cooler for women’s sport to simply not even mention the naked gambling ad at all.
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Jacob Fortinsky

We never intended to portray female sports. Sydney’s an actress, the biggest movie star in the world. We’re a prediction market that is focused on sports, and that is the story that she was communicating... It really was Sydney who was driving the visuals and the messaging.
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Molly Carlson

This one hits close to home... because I didn’t think I looked like the athlete I was ‘supposed’ to be. Young girls deserve to grow up seeing female athletes celebrated for their strength, courage, talent and what their bodies are capable of.
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