Dylan Mulvaney Calls Out Bud Light’s Lack of Support Amid Ongoing “Bullying and Transphobia”
Dylan Mulvaney is detailing her experience amid the Bud Light controversy.
Nearly three months after the trans activist shared a sponsored social media post featuring a can of Bud Light, she is opening up about the ensuing fallout, which included transphobic comments aimed at the 26-year-old, as well boycotts of the brand from conservative customers.
"I built my platform on being honest with you and what I'm about to tell you might sound like old news," she began a June 29 video shared to Instagram, "but you know that feeling when you have something uncomfy sitting on your chest, well, that's how I feel right now."
Explaining that she took a brand deal with a company that she "loved," Dylan noted that she didn't expect for the ad to get "blown up the way it has."
"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," she continued. "I was scared of more backlash, and I felt personally guilty for what transpired."
She added, "So I patiently waited for things to get better but surprise, they haven't really. And I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did."
Dylan went on to share the effects she said the response to the ad has had on her personally.
"For months now, I've been scared to leave the house," she said. "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."
She added, "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. 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."
E! News has reached out to Bud Light for comment and has not heard back.
The California native's comments come one day after Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of the brand's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, addressed the backlash surrounding Dylan's sponsored post shared in April.
"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," he told CBS Morning June 28. "Bud Light should be all about bringing people together."
In Dylan's April 1 Instagram post, she shared that Bud Light sent her a can with an image of her face in celebration of the first anniversary of her transition.
"Just to be clear, it was a gift, and it was one can," Brendan continued. "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."
When asked if he would've changed the decision to send Dylan a gift in retrospect, Brendan shared his thoughts about the controversy as a whole.
"There's a big social conversation taking place right now and big brands are right in the middle of it," he explained. "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."
