Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on Budweiser backlash

Dylan Mulvaney posted a video discussing her point of view about the backlash from hardliners over her promotional video for the Bud Light March Madness campaign.  

According to Deadline, the actor and social media influencer took to TikTok to share the grueling experience with her 13 million followers. 

“What I’m struggling with most is that I grew up in a conservative family, and I’m extremely privileged because they still love me very much. And I grew up in the church, and I still have my faith, which I am really trying to hold onto right now. But I’ve always tried to love everyone, you know, even the people who make it really, really hard. And I think it’s okay to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just, I don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”

Mulvaney gently reclaimed her voice, and reminded her followers of her values as a human being and performing artist. Her message radiated optimism and a desire to rise above the criticism and return to entertaining her fans.

“What I’m interested in is getting back to making people laugh and to never stop learning.”

The severity of the vitriol from Mulvaney’s detractors is instrumental. Her critics deliberately inflict pain and fear on supporters of trans people to inclusive companies to capitulate to their demands. 

Mulvaney’s appearance in the Bud Light campaign was politicized and smeared in several right-wing media outlets. News reports claimed that her feature in the March Madness campaign wiped several billion dollars off the value of Anheuser-Busch. Her appearance in the campaign was enveloped in the “go woke, go broke” narrative, even though the company’s share price initially saw an 8 percent jump before dipping 3 percent  during the height of the controversy, with Mulvaney becoming a lightning rod for the intolerance of modern gender ideology.  

The blatant bigotry directed at Mulvaney culminated in a disturbing act of symbolic violence by Kid Rock, who posted a video of himself firing a rifle at several boxes of Bud Light. The clip is especially chilling because firearms are the weapon of choice in 73 percent of the fatal violence against trans people, which has quadrupled since 2018.

Mulvaney’s return to her platform is a subtle yet brave act of resistance. Her attackers gave her their best shot, but she is making it clear that she is here to stay.