Dylan Mulvaney Calls Out ‘Bullying’ Online Following Bud Light Backlash: ‘I’m an Easy Target’
With musicians such as Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Travis Tritt all calling for a boycott of Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch products following their partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, the “365 Days of Girlhood” star is ready to share her side of things.
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Mulvaney was a guest for the latest episode of Onward With Rosie O’Donnell on Tuesday (April 11), where she appeared to respond to the ongoing backlash against her work with brands including Bud Light and Nike. “I have tried to be the most uncontroversial person this past year, and somehow, it has made me controversial still,” she told O’Donnell. “I think it comes back to the fact that these people don’t understand me, and anything that I do or say then somehow gets taken out of context and used against me. And it’s so sad, because everything I try to put out there is positive.”
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While Mulvaney didn’t directly address the Bud Light boycott or Nugent and Tritt during the interview, O’Donnell did in her introduction, specifically calling out Kid Rock’s video in which he shot an assault rifle at three cases of Bud Light.
“Kid Rock had to take an assault weapon and shoot the boxes of beer, proving what? Beer companies have been supportive of the LGBTQIA community for decades!” O’Donnell declared, dumbfounded. “This is not the first time! Who do you think sponsors Pride? C’mon. Gay people, trans people, we drink beer, too, man! Put down your gun, Kid Rock, it’s in bad taste — especially after what happened at the school in Nashville.”
Mulvaney did speak about watching Drew Barrymore receive exceptional amounts of online hate for embracing her on her talk show, and how that moment was indicative of the larger issue at hand. “It’s bullying in the fact that they want anyone who associates themselves with trans people to be under fire,” she said. “They want to essentially shame people into thinking that if you associate with someone like me, you are to be laughed at, and you are now the crazy one. Because you’re ‘giving in’ to someone’s identity, or just acknowledging their existence.”
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As for why right-wing trolls seem to specifically target her, Mulvaney shared her own theory. “I’m an easy target is because I’m still new to this,” she said. “Going after a trans woman that’s been doing this for, like, 20 years is a lot more difficult. So I think maybe they think there’s some sort of chance with me … but what is their goal?”
The star went on to say that since beginning her public transition over a year ago, she has watched as transphobia has “gotten so bad for the community,” especially in relation to legislators around the country passing a record number of anti-trans bills. “I’m just like, ‘We just have to stay alive,'” Mulvaney said. “This is the time, I think, for not only just everyday straight people, but we need every letter of the alphabet to show up for us, because I think it’s all hands on deck.”
The interview comes shortly after Mulvaney shared a video across her social media platforms as a response to the ongoing backlash. The clip, from Mulvaney’s Day 365 Live cabaret show at New York’s Rainbow Room in March, sees the star singing “No One Is Alone” from Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 musical Into the Woods. “It’s hard to see the light now, just don’t let it go,” the TikTok star wrote in the caption, quoting the track. “This song felt fitting for the week I’ve been having. All is well! Cheers.”
Listen to Mulvaney’s interview with O’Donnell below:
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