Dylan Mulvaney on Thursday accused Bud Light of giving “customers permission to be as transphobic and as hateful as they want” amid the fallout over the beer’s minor collaboration with the transgender influencer.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all,” Mulvaney said in a video posted to social media.
The controversy began when Bud Light launched a minor creative collaboration with Mulvaney, who posted an Instagram video surrounded by the iconic blue cans in a bathtub. The post caused a backlash among the brand’s blue-collar base. The fallout has become so widespread that Modelo dethroned Bud Light from its spot as America’s most popular beer and led HSBC to downgrade Anheuser-Busch stock.
Mulvaney claimed to have received “more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined” since the collaboration’s launch.
“I’ve been scared to leave my house,” the influencer said.
Mulvaney discussed having “patiently waited for things to get better” and having waited for Bud Light to reach out, though the company never did.
Mulvaney went on to say that “supporting trans people shouldn’t be political.”
“There should be nothing divisive or controversial about working with us.”
One day earlier, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth declined to say whether the company would ever work with Mulvaney again.
“There’s a big social conversation going on right now,” he said, adding, “It’s moved away from beer,” and “Bud Light doesn’t belong in this divisive conversation.”
Bud Light’s sales fell 28.5 percent for the week ending on June 20 compared to the same time last year.
The brand’s demise has been further worsened by backlash from members of the LGBT community who protested the beer over Whitworth’s initial clarifying statement about the Mulvaney collab. While Whitworth’s apology did little to appease the brand’s conservative critics, it was enough to upset LGBT activists who argued the brand conceded too much.
As the controversy rolls on, Anheuser-Busch has attempted to smooth things over by rolling out a patriotic ad and donating $200,000 for a second year to support “LGBTQ+ business owners of color.”