Sophie Cunningham
Role at the time: WNBA player for the Indiana Fever, speaking on her podcast “No Hesitation”
Statement summary
WNBA player Sophie Cunningham said on her podcast that she did not understand why the advertisement had angered women, that its combination of men, sports and nudity was obviously going to draw attention, and that Sweeney should carry on. She also said she did not really like the ad, called Sweeney’s involvement inauthentic and found it “morally… a little weird,” and said the ad was not directed at women’s sports.
“Why are girls mad? That is literally what she does… Men, sports, naked women. Of course that’s gonna draw attention… Go do your thing sis”
Reports remarks by WNBA player Sophie Cunningham on her podcast “No Hesitation” with co-host Drew Hanlen. The ellipses are the outlet’s elisions from the podcast audio; the underlying episode is the primary record and has not been reviewed for this case. The same report notes Sweeney has not commented on the ad but shared Instagram Stories of female athletes from ESPN’s Body issue. This is the Yahoo syndication of The Sporting News article.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
On whether the advertisement sexualizes women’s sport, Cunningham takes materially different positions in the same segment. She criticizes the ad, saying she does not really like it, calling Sweeney’s involvement inauthentic and calling it morally odd, while also questioning the backlash, asking why women were angry and saying the ad was not directed at women’s sports. That combination is “Mixed or conditional” rather than “Minimized,” because her criticism is a substantive objection, not only a qualification on a dismissal.