Dylan Mulvaney Criticizes Bud Light For Never Reaching Out After Backlash Made Her ‘Scared To Leave My House’

Topline

Transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney spoke out Thursday about her controversial advertisement with Bud Light for the first time since the partnership spurred a nationwide boycott, criticizing the company for not defending her as the deal drew scorn from right-wing figures and was cast as a poster child for companies “going woke.”

Dylan Mulvaney speaks onstage at the PFLAG National 50th Anniversary Gala at the Marriott Marquis on … [+] March 3, 2023, in New York City.

Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for PFLAG

Key Facts

Months after a partnership with Bud Light sparked outrage from conservative pundits, celebrities and customers, Mulvaney said in a video she never heard from the company after she was personally attacked for promoting the beer.

Mulvaney said that for a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them, “is worse, in my opinion, than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.”

“What transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined,” Mulvaney said Thursday, adding that she waited so long to comment on the controversy because she was “scared of more backlash” and felt “personally guilty for what transpired.”

Mulvaney said she has been followed, ridiculed in public and scared to leave her house, and has felt “a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Thursday, but CEO Brendan Whitworth told CBS Mornings on Wednesday that the brand “should be all about bringing people together” while declining to directly answer a question about whether the Mulvaney campaign was a mistake.

Key Background

Mulvaney, a former Broadway actress, has posted videos to her TikTok account detailing her gender transition over more than a year. She has since garnered almost 11 million followers, in addition to partnerships with a number of brands and media appearances. At the one-year mark of her transition, Mulvaney hosted a live variety show at Rockefeller Center’s iconic Rainbow Room. In April, Anheuser-Busch partnered with Mulvaney to film a TikTok video for the Bud Light brand, featuring a Bud Light can with her face on it. She then became a target of furor from the far right, and personalities like Kid Rock lashed out—he posted a video shooting cans of Bud Light and yelling profanities about the company. Days later, Mulvaney unveiled a collaboration with Nike, which led to further conservative backlash and calls for boycotts, including from Olympic athletes Sharron Davies and Caitlyn Jenner, who is also a trans woman. Bud Light lost its top spot in the U.S. beer market earlier this month after sales of Bud Light and Budweiser dropped 24.6% and 9.2%, respectively, in the wake of the controversy.

Crucial Quote

“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 said in a video Thursday.

Contra

The campaign led dozens of public figures to take a stand for or against the brand. Country music star Travis Tritt said he would no longer sell Anheuser-Busch products at his concerts, artist John Rich said he pulled cases of the beer from his bar in Nashville and former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly responded to a video of Mulvaney saying it is God who “allows” people to be women. Other stars supported the partnership, including musician Jason Isbell and country stars Zach Bryan and Garth Brooks.

Tangent

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) last month opened a Senate investigation into whether or not Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney violated rules preventing advertising alcohol to minors. In a letter to the Beer Institute’s Code Compliance Review Board, Cruz said the partnership marketed beer toward minors because many members of Mulvaney’s fan base are under the age of 21.