Dylan Mulvaney Goes Silent As Bud Light Makes Changes After Backlash
Dylan Mulvaney has not posted to her 10.8 million TikTok followers in sixteen days amid an ongoing backlash to the transgender influencer's partnership with Bud Light.
The silence comes as the beer brand itself fell back into quiescence on its social media channels after a brief post to Twitter and Instagram on April 14 and news emerged of a recent staff change. Prior to that, it had not posted since the controversy began online on April 2.
Bud Light has faced calls for a boycott after sending a personalized beer can to Mulvaney, who has promoted the brand on her social media accounts, to commemorate her 365 days of being a girl. The row has fed into a broader debate about the acceptance of transgender individuals in public life.
Following the boycott calls, supporters of Kari Lake, the Donald Trump-backed GOP candidate for Arizona Governor in 2022, refused to drink the beer brand at an open bar at a rally in Iowa. Meanwhile, a bar owner in Kentucky said he had noticed the drink sparking rows between patrons.
Many prominent figures have also waded into the debate. Donald Trump Jr. and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among those to have made reference to the row. Celebrities like Joe Rogan and Caitlyn Jenner have also weighed in.
Mulvaney has made few public comments about the row since it began. The 26-year-old appeared to allude to it in a video early in April, and on a podcast last week she said she was an "easy target" because she was new to the transgender debate.
In her last post, on April 7, Mulvaney appeared speaking at a gala event, at which she said: "Whether you're a parent or you're a child, or you're young or you're old or you're trans or you're not, we're all just trying our best here aren't we?
"And the most important thing is that we have the people in our lives to support us and celebrate our uniqueness," she added. Mulvaney went on to sing a song that included the lyrics: "Someone is on your side / someone else is not / while we're seeing our side / maybe we forgot / they are not alone / no one is alone."
Newsweek approached Mulvaney's representative via email for comment on Sunday.
Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, has appeared to have made several attempts at damage control over the social media furor. While the company has remained largely silent online, on April 14 CEO Brendan Whitworth, issued a statement in which he said: "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people."
He added: "My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work, and respect for one another."
The same day, another of Anheuser-Busch's brands, Budweiser, released an advert infused with patriotic imagery, saying the beer is "rooted in the heart of America"—which was perceived as an attempt to appeal to the company's traditional consumers and move on from the debacle.
Following its release, many criticized the company online, either for appearing to pander to those outraged by the Bud Light partnership, or for not doing enough to quell the outrage. The ad also attracted the criticism of animal rights group PETA, which said the commercial had featured a horse with a "cruelly amputated" tail.
On Saturday, reports emerged that the vice president in charge of the partnership with Mulvaney had taken a leave of absence and would be replaced in their role by the Budweiser marketing chief. Those who had spoken out against the brand saw it as a sign the boycotting calls had worked.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch said the company would also streamline marketing "so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand's activities."
The spokesperson added: "These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country."
Transgender rights and inclusion are issues that are proving deeply polarizing in the U.S. A survey by the Pew Research Center last year found that 38 percent of Americans believed that society had gone too far in accepting transgender people, while 36 percent said it had not gone far enough.
