Transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney was asked to reflect on the Bud Light controversy that sparked a massive backlash against both the influencer and the beer brand in 2023.
Mulvaney came under fire after posting a video in April 2023 revealing the beer company sent packs of Bud Light with the influencer’s face as part of a new ad campaign and to celebrate Mulvaney’s full year of transitioning to “girlhood.”
“Well, I will start by saying I love beer, and I always have,” Mulvaney remarked during an appearance on “The View” Monday promoting the new book “Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer.”
Mulvaney continued, “So, I mean, when I took that deal, I didn’t think anything of it, because I was, like, ‘Oh, this is perfect.’ It felt like an organic thing to do, and it was just another part of me.”
The trans influencer described being confused about the controversy and how it kept growing, saying, “I realized I had become the poster child for this thing when [being] trans is just a small part of me.”
Mulvaney lamented not having “all the resources” to get through the backlash, adding that while being “the most privileged of transness,” the rest of the trans community is even less fortunate and in need.
“But what I think was really special about writing about the experience was that people see me as this, like, eternal optimist, but I think sometimes the people that are seen that way are often the ones that are hurting the most,” Mulvaney said. “What brings me the most joy is my gender euphoria and to have that used against me was such a mind game.”
“But I think it was really the people around me, and the trans women in my life that supported me during that time and took my hand and said, ‘This is our reality, welcome.’ That’s what got me through,” Mulvaney concluded.
During the show, Mulvaney also appeared to dodge a question about California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent admission that there is a fairness issue with biological male athletes participating in women’s sports.
“The last time I played a sport, I was six-years-old, and I was on a soccer team, but I assigned myself as the nurse, so I sat with the Band-Aids. And so in the words of ‘Wicked,’ I am not that girl,” Mulvaney joked.
Fox Business reported in Jan. 2024 that sales for Bud Light fell by 29.9% in the months after the videos were released.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Former Anheuser-Busch President of Operations Anson Frericks remarked in February that the brand has yet to fully recover, though Bud Light has been making efforts to win back customers.
“They are advertising Bud Light. And candidly, the commercials are actually pretty good,” Frericks said on FOX Business’ “Varney & Co.” “They have Shane Gillis, who’s about the opposite of Dylan Mulvaney. You couldn’t have maybe someone more opposite. They have Post Malone, but the problem is they’ve lost a lot of their customers.”
