Kelly Stafford has jumped into the backlash around Sydney Sweeney’s latest ad campaign, and she did it without ever naming Sweeney.
The controversy started when Sweeney teamed with sports prediction platform Novig for a “Just Sports” spot that used strategically placed equipment to cover her throughout the minute-long ad. The campaign immediately drew heat from female athletes, who reacted with clear frustration. Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus called it infuriating, and other competitors responded by posting their own training photos as a pointed contrast.
Stafford, the wife of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, weighed in this week by resharing an Instagram video from fitness influencer Daniel Hong. In the clip, Hong talked about the pressure young girls face around appearance and attention.
“My girls are going to grow up in a world where they’re going to learn really quick that attention has value, especially for girls,” Hong said. “Appearance can get you attention: likes, comments, followers, money, opportunities.
All of that is very real.”
He then drew a line he said he wants his own daughters to understand early. “What I want them to understand is that attention and value are not the same thing,” he said. Stafford’s response to the video was simple: “THIS THIS THIS THIS,” a comment US Magazine caught.
The message landed especially close to home for Stafford, who has four daughters with Matthew Stafford. Hong’s point about raising girls in a world where attention can be monetized clearly resonated with her, and she has spoken before about concerns tied to her daughters growing up in the public eye.
Stafford has also been in the spotlight recently for reasons beyond this conversation. She drew criticism over her behavior at one of her daughters’ birthday parties and has continued to talk openly about family life on her podcast this year, including recent comments about her husband’s football future.
Sweeney has responded to the broader backlash by posting old ESPN magazine covers showing other athletes who posed nude for previous editions, though she has not addressed Stafford’s comments directly.
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