Dylan Mulvaney, the trans influencer whose Instagram posts were at the core of a controversy that decimated Bud Light sales, in a new video today criticized parent Anheuser-Busch InBev for failing to come to her defense amid the uproar.
“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,” Mulvaney said, while drinking a beer out of a glass with no branding showing. “Because it gives customers permission to be as hateful and transphobic as they want.”
Mulvaney added that “I was waiting for the brand to reach out, but they never did,” not naming Bud Light or Anheuser-Busch InBev by name.
The Instagram post marked the first time Mulvaney has directly addressed the Bud Light controversy. She said she was doing so to call attention to bullying and hate that many trans people face, and to stand up for trans people in advertising. “Supporting trans people shouldn't be political,” she said. “There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us.”