Transgender TikToker Dylan Mulvaney said Bud Light failed to stand by her after their branded content partnership was met with massive right-wing backlash.
“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,” she said in a TikTok video Thursday.
Mulvaney, 26, has more than 10.6 million followers on TikTok, where she rose to fame after chronicling her first year of gender transition in a viral video series called “Days of Girlhood.”
The viral hate campaign targeting Mulvaney began after she posted a video about Bud Light on her Instagram page on April 1 as part of its promotional March Madness campaign. The post included a can the company sent Mulvaney with her face on it.
Conservatives, including celebrities like Kid Rock, began posting viral videos of themselves trashing Bud Light cans, pouring them down the sink and even shooting the cans.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth responded in a statement on April 14, saying the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”
In her video post Thursday, Mulvaney said she felt the company’s response wasn’t enough.
“What transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined,” Mulvaney said. “For months now I’ve been scared to leave my house, I’ve been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
She claimed no one from Anheuser-Busch reached out to her privately.
A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch did not address whether the company reached out to Mulvaney.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “As we’ve said, we remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. The privacy and safety of our employees and our partners is always our top priority. As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers.”