“For months now, I’ve been scared to leave the house,” said the trans influencer. “I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did.”
Dylan Mulvaney is calling out Bud Light for not standing by her in the months following the backlash over their short-lived partnership.
On Thursday, the 26-year-old trans influencer posted an Instagram video in which she details how she’s been treated amid the controversy, while also claiming that the beer company still hasn’t reached out to her in the nearly three months her sponsored ad was posted and sparked major controversy.
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“One thing I will not tolerate people saying about me is that I don’t like beer because I love beer and I always have,” Mulvaney, 26, began after taking a sip of beer. “I built my platform on being honest with you, and what I’m about to tell you might sound like old news, but you know that feeling when you have something uncomfy sitting on your chest, well, that’s how I feel right now. So this feels like the wrong thing to do.”
“I took a brand deal with a company that I loved, and I posted a sponsored video to my page,” she continued, referencing her April Instagram post, “and it must have been a slow news week because the way that this ad got blown up, you would’ve thought I was like on a billboard or on a TV commercial or something major. But no, it was just an Instagram video.”
The TikTok star added why she decided to speak out about the controversy now, months later.
“I’m bringing it up because what transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined, and I should’ve made this video months ago but I didn’t,” Mulvaney said. “I was scared of more backlash, and I felt personally guilty for what transpired.”
The actress went on to note that she “patiently waited for things to get better but surprise, they haven’t really,” before claiming that Bud Light has yet to contact her. “I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did.”
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“For months now, I’ve been scared to leave the house,” she continued. “I’ve been ridiculed in public. I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And I’m not telling you this because I want your pity, I’m telling you this because if this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people.”
“For a company to hire a trans person and then to not publicly stand by them is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring a trans personal at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” Mulvaney added. “And the hate doesn’t end with me — it has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community. And we’re customers, too.”
The social media personality went on to stress that supporting the transgender community shouldn’t be considered “political.”
“To turn a blind eye and pretend everything is okay, it just isn’t an option right now. And you might say, ‘But Dylan, I don’t wanna get political,'” Mulvaney said. “Babe, supporting trans people, it shouldn’t be political! There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us.”
In response to recent controversy, @AnheuserBusch CEO Brendan Whitworth tells CBS Mornings that his company will continue to support the LGBTQ community.
He did not directly answer the questions of whether the promotional campaign with a transgender influencer was a mistake. pic.twitter.com/19PXJQkoem
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) June 28, 2023
@CBSMornings
“And I know it’s possible because I’ve worked with some fantastic companies who care, but caring about the LGBTQ+ community requires a lot more than just a donation somewhere during Pride Month,” she added. “And all this to say, bottom line is that if you follow me, if I’ve made you smile, if you care about me, I need you to care about every trans person. And I need you to support us. And I need you to stand by us.”
Mulvaney concluded her post by noting that she’s going to “celebrate” being alive, the trans community, and “the fact that no matter how many thousands of horrible messages or news anchors misgendering me or companies going silent, that I can look in the mirror and see the woman that I am and that I love being.”
One day before Mulvaney shared her new video, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Brendan Whitworth, responded to the controversy during an appearance on CBS Mornings on Wednesday.
“It’s been a challenging few weeks, and I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer, and the conversation has become divisive, and Bud Light really doesn’t belong there. Bud Light should be all about bringing people together,” he said of the brand, which is under the Anheuser-Busch umbrella.
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Back in April, Mulvaney shared a video touting a new partnership with Bud Light, revealing a special can with her picture on it. The post was met with a wave of criticism from conservative social media users, many of whom called for a boycott.
“Just to be clear, it was a gift, and it was one can,” Whitworth said on Wednesday. “But for us, as we look to the future and we look to moving forward, we have to understand the impact that it’s had.”
However, the CEO did not offer a clear answer when asked if he still would have sent Mulvaney the personalized can in retrospect.
“There’s a big social conversation taking place right now and big brands are right in the middle of it,” he said. “For us, what we need to understand is, deeply understand and appreciate, is the consumer and what they want, what they care about and what they expect from big brands.”
After he was then further pressed on the issue, and asked if he believed the partnership was a “mistake,” Whitworth again didn’t directly answered the question, but suggested that Bud Light will “continue to support” the LGBTQ+ community.
“Bud Light has supported LGBTQ+ since 1998, so that’s 25 years, and as we’ve said from the beginning,” he said. “We’ll continue to support the communities and organizations that we’ve supported for decades bringing people together.”
