Celebrity5 min(s) read
Published 09:10 30 Jun 2023 GMT
Dylan Mulvaney has slammed Bud Light for not supporting her in the months following the backlash over their partnership.
The controversy surrounding Bud Light started earlier this year after the beverage company sent the 26-year-old social media influencer a personalized can of its product.
Mulvaney took to her Instagram to share a promotional video of her dressed up as Audrey Hepburn and drinking the beer - which was also to promote its March Madness competition and to celebrate her first year since transitioning.
In addition to this, the content creator also took pictures of commemorative cans the company sent to her with her face on them as a way to celebrate the "365 Days of Girlhood" milestone she reached.
Following the collaboration, several conservative celebrities - including Kid Rock and Bri Teresi - took to their social media to denounce the campaign, with the latter even shooting cans of the beer as an act of defiance.
But despite this, the brand's parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI), defended their choices, as the CEO Michel Doukeris said in a statement: "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer." He added that a large portion of the backlash came as people assumed that the partnership with Mulvaney was going to be long-standing.
Furthermore, Bud Light ended up losing its place as the best-selling beer across the US. Per CBS News, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) sold $297 million worth of the beer for the four weeks ending May 28 - a 23% drop from the same time period the year before. After 22 years, Bud Light was knocked out of first place by the Mexican beer brand Modelo Especial.
When asked about whether Anheuser-Busch had made a mistake in partnering with Mulvaney, Brendan Whitworth said: "Just to be clear, it was a gift and it was one can."
According to a video shared on Instagram by Mulvaney on Thursday (June 29), the beer company did not reach out to the activist in the nearly three months since her sponsored ad was posted and sparked a major debate online.
Speaking to her 1.8 million followers, she said: "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. 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."
Mulvaney said she took a deal with a company she "loved" and referenced her April Instagram post, adding: "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 explained that she decided to speak out about the controversy now - three months later - because what "transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia" and that she was "scared of more backlash, and I felt personally guilty for what transpired".
She stated 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," she explained.
"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 person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want. 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," she added.
The social media personality emphasized that supporting the transgender community shouldn't be considered "political," adding: "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.' Babe, supporting trans people, shouldn't be political! There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us."
She shared that she has worked with "fantastic companies" but "caring about the LGBTQ+ community requires a lot more than just a donation somewhere during Pride Month".
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".
