Dylan Mulvaney addresses anti-trans backlash over Bud Light and Nike deals
“I think I'm an easy target because I'm still new to this,” Dylan told Rosie O'Donnell.
Dylan Mulvaney is sharing her thoughts on the anti-trans backlash she has faced.
In recent weeks, after announcing partnerships with Nike and Bud Light, she’s been bombarded with transphobic hate.
Dylan rose to fame on TikTok in 2022 when she began sharing her transition journey and has remained a key trans figure on the platform with over 10 million followers.
On Tuesday’s (11 April) episode of iHeartPodcasts’ Onward with Rosie O’Donnell podcast, Dylan shared: “I think I’m an easy target because I’m still new to this.”
“I think going after a trans woman who has been doing this for 20 years is a lot more difficult,” they added. “Maybe they think there’s some sort of chance with me that they can… but I mean, what is their goal?”
Earlier this month (April 1) Dylan posted a promotional video for Bud Light dressed as Audrey Hepburn sipping beer. A few days (April April 6) later she posted photos in Nike women’s workout gear.
She then received a wave of hate criticising the brand deals. Trolls declared the brands shouldn’t endorse a trans woman and have boycotted both.
“They don’t understand me and anything that I do.”
Kid Rock posted a video of himself shooting three cases of Bud Light with an assault rifle. Wearing a MAGA hat, he declared: “f**k Bud Light.”
Rosie criticised Rock before defending the transgender community.
“Gay people, trans people, we drink beer too man. Put down your gun, Kid Rock, it’s in bad taste,” she said.
Both brands Mulvaney collaborated with have responded to the controversy by siding with the influencer.
Nike pinned a comment to their promotional post sharing: “Be kind.. Be inclusive…Encourage each other…Hate speech, bullying, or other behaviours that are not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community will be deleted.”
On the podcast, Mulvaney expressed her attempts to be the “most uncontroversial person” but “somehow it has made me controversial still.”
“I think it comes back to the fact that these people, they don’t understand me and anything that I do or say then somehow gets taken out of context and is used against me,” she also noted.
“It’s so sad because everything I try to put out is positive, it’s trying to connect with others that maybe don’t understand me, it’s to make people laugh or make a kid feel seen.”