Back in April, the beloved TikTok star took to her social media channels to promote Bud Light’s March Madness contest whilst simultaneously celebrating her first year living as a woman.
While many of her fans celebrated the wholesome partnership, conservative individuals announced their boycott of popular beer while also spewing harmful anti-trans rhetoric.
Country singer Kid Rock filmed himself shooting several Bud Light cases with a submachine gun, while anti-LGBTQ+, Trump-loving gun advocate Marjorie Taylor Greene barbarically described Mulvaney as “one of the biggest paedophiles in America today.”
Following the bigot-led backlash, Bud Light CEO Brendan Whitworth released a blanket statement that refrained from calling out the anti-trans hate towards Mulvaney.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people, we are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” he said on 14 April.
“I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time travelling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others.”
A few weeks after Whitworth’s lacklustre statement, Anheuser-Bush CEO Michel Doukeris informed the company’s investors that Mulvaney’s Bud Light video was not part of a “formal campaign or advertisement.”
Due to Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch’s lack of support for the beloved trans influencer, various LGBTQ+ bars in Chicago have announced their own boycott of Bud Light.
2Bears Tavern Group slammed Anheuser-Busch’s “abandonment” of Mulvaney in a lengthy post on Instagram.
“Anheuser-Busch’s decision to drop its support of Mulvaney in repose to ignorant and hateful objections by some of its customers shows how little Anheuser-Busch’s cares about the LGBTQIA+ community, and in particular transgender people, who have been under unrelenting attack in this country,” they wrote.
“2Bears Tavern Group is discontinuing all Anheuser-Busch InBev products, including Busch Light, Bud Light, and Goose Island 321.”
Sidetrack bar echoed similar sentiments in their own Instagram statement.
“Until Anheuser-Busch can clearly demonstrate that they will not acquiesce to the voices of hate that wish to erase LGBTQ+ existence, Sidetrack will continue to boycott their products,” the LGBTQ+ business wrote.
“Until then, Sidetrack will continue to partner with brands that work to give back to the LGBTQ+ community and lift voices of all its members. Sidetrack stands with other Chicago LGBTQ+-owned bars and businesses that have also dropped Anheuser-Busch products.”
2Bears Tavern Group and Sidetrack’s announcements come a week after Mulvaney broke her weeks-long silence regarding the Bud Light controversy.
“A lot has been said about me. Some of which is so far from my truth that I was hearing my name, and I didn’t know who they were talking about sometimes,” she explained to her 10.8 million followers on TikTok.
“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,” she added.
“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.”