Dylan Mulvaney has broken her silence on social media after outrage sparked due to her recent partnership with Bud Light.
As previously reported, the beer brand has been the focal point of a deeply divided debate after sending the 26-year-old transgender activist a personalized can of its product.
Mulvaney took her Instagram on April 1 to share a promotional video of her dressed up as Audrey Hepburn and drinking the beverage. The ad was also to promote its March Madness competition.
The influencer - who has garnered 10.8 million followers on TikTok - also shared pictures of commemorative cans the company sent to her with her face on them as a way to celebrate the "365 Days of Girlhood" milestone she recently reached.
The collaboration has drawn condemnation from some social media users and people in the music industry, including rock star Kid Rock, who went viral after posting a video on Twitter of himself shooting his rifle at crates of Bud Light (although, he never mentioned Mulvaney's name or the partnership in his post).
In addition to this, musician Travis Tritt also took to the social media platform to tweet that he was boycotting the Anheuser-Busch product following the Mulvaney-Bud Light partnership.
So, on Thursday (April 27), Mulvaney broke her silence on the video-sharing platform and spoke about the transphobic uproar and how it has affected her.
Check out Mulvaney addressing the backlash below:"It's day 9,610 of being a human and I'm gonna try to leave gender out of this, since that's how we found ourselves here. I've been offline for a few weeks and a lot has been said about me, some of which is so far from my truth that I was like hearing my name and I didn't even know who they were talking about sometimes," she began.
"It's a very disssociative feeling. And it was so loud that I didn't even feel part of the conversation. So I decided to take the backseat and just let them tucker themselves out," she went on. "But then I remembered that nearly 13 million people, at some point, enjoyed me enough to hit the follow button on these apps. And I was like, 'Wait, wait, wait. I wanna talk to those people.' So hi! Long time no talk. How are you? You might wanna grab a beverage, this is gonna be a longer one."
"But I'm doing OK. And I'm trying this new thing where I don't pressure myself to share anything before I'm ready. And I'm actually sitting with my emotions, not reacting, waiting to respond—and shockingly, I can't recommend it more. Like, therapy is paying off here, people! But I do have some thoughts to share with you."
Mulvaney then opened up about growing up in a conservative family, adding that she’s been "extremely privileged" to have their love and her faith intact.
"I’ve always tried to love everyone, even the people that make it really really hard and I think it’s OK to be frustrated with someone or confused but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel," she said. "I just don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history ever."
The popular social media star then went on to remark that she was nervous her TikTok followers would be swayed by the criticism of her.
"But I’m just going to go ahead and trust that the people who know me and my heart won’t listen to that noise, she said.
