Sky Sports shuts down Halo after three days following sexism backlash

Sky Sports has pulled the plug on its new women-focused TikTok channel, Halo, just three days after its launch, following widespread criticism that the project was “patronising”, “sexist” and “out of touch”.

Halo had been promoted as an “inclusive platform designed for women to explore and enjoy sports content”, with a promise to highlight female voices and deliver relatable, trend-driven videos. Instead, its posts — referencing “hot girl walks”, matcha, and pastel aesthetics — were seen by viewers as infantilising and dismissive of real sports engagement.

A widely mocked example was a clip of Erling Haaland scoring for Manchester City, captioned: “How the matcha + hot girl walk combo hits.” Critics argued that this tone reduced women’s sports interest to clichés and undermined years of progress in visibility and respect for women’s sports.

Emily Trees, 23, told BBC Newsbeat that calling Halo the „little sister” of Sky Sports was “damaging and insulting”. She emphasised that women’s sport has fought for decades to stand on its own, not as a softer extension of men’s sport.

GirlsontheBall, a respected women’s football platform, also voiced frustration, pointing to the outdated colour palette, branding and tone, arguing that women fans expect serious, not sugar-coated, coverage. Other fans added that equal representation on existing Sky Sports channels would be far more meaningful than a separate, gender-coded space.

Although Sky Sports’ head of social media, Andy Gill, initially expressed pride and excitement over Halo’s launch, the public outcry forced a rapid reassessment.

By Saturday night, nearly all posts on Halo had been deleted, leaving only a brief statement:
“Our intention for Halo was to create a space for new, young female fans. We’ve listened. We didn’t get it right. We’re stopping all activity on this account. We remain committed to building inclusive spaces for all fans.”

The swift shutdown of Halo highlights the growing public sensitivity toward gender stereotypes and reinforces the need for major media organisations to align with the real expectations of today’s audiences.