Dylan Mulvaney addresses Bud Light backlash in new video
Mulvaney̵[ads1]7;s April video sponsored by Bud Light was quickly met with outrage from conservative politicians and personalities who called for a boycott of the beer company for collaborating with a trans influencer. Across social media, people shared videos of themselves dumping out cans of Bud Light, destroying them or filling them with bullets. Several facilities belonging to Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, received bomb threats.
Sipping a beer, Mulvaney said Thursday that the controversy left her scared and isolated. People followed her movements and publicly ridiculed her, making her afraid to leave her home for months, she said.
“I’ve felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney said she initially kept quiet about the controversy, fearing to invite more backlash and hoping things would settle down, “but, surprise, they really haven’t.”
“I should have made this video months ago, but I didn’t,” Mulvaney said. “And I was scared.”
Bud Light representatives did not reach out to Mulvaney as right-wing outrage grew, she said. Mulvaney criticized the brand for not taking a stronger stance against the backlash directed at her after seeking a partnership with her, echoing criticism Anheuser-Busch made from some customers who said the company did not do enough to support Mulvaney.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is, in my opinion, worse than not hiring a trans person at all,” Mulvaney said, “because it gives customers permission to be so transphobic and hateful as they will.”
An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told The Washington Post that the company remains committed to working with organizations in the LGBTQ+ community. The spokesman did not respond to an inquiry about whether representatives contacted Mulvaney amid the controversy.
“The privacy and security of our employees and our partners is always our highest priority,” the spokesperson said.
A representative for Mulvaney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
Mulvaney expressed surprise that a single promotional video on Instagram featuring a can of Bud Light with her face on it — created to commemorate the anniversary of her gender transition — went viral and sparked such a fierce backlash.
She also expressed concern that the fallout over the ad could lead to other trans people being subjected to similar abuse.
“The hate doesn’t stop with me,” Mulvaney said. “It has serious and dire consequences for the rest of our society.”
Mulvaney urged her followers to donate to a transgender organization and said she would use the final days of Pride month to celebrate herself and her community. She still has the Bud Light can that ignited the rage, she added, though she said she hid it in her home for safekeeping after filming the April video.
“I feel like it needs to go in a museum,” Mulvaney said.