Dylan Mulvaney has revealed that she is afraid to leave the house following the Bud Light controversy.
The backlash surrounding the beer company began in April after it sent the 26-year-old social media influencer a personalized can of its product.
Mulvaney took to her social media to share a promotional video of her dressed up as Audrey Hepburn and drinking the beer - which was also to promote its March Madness competition and to celebrate her first year since transitioning.
The video quickly garnered transphobic criticism from conservatives - including celebrities like Kid Rock and Bri Teresi - who denounced the campaign.
After the collaboration, Bud Light ended up losing its place as the best-selling beer across the US. Per CBS News, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) sold $297 million worth of the beer for the four weeks ending May 28 - a 23% drop from the same time period the year before. After 22 years, Bud Light was knocked out of first place by the Mexican beer brand Modelo Especial.
When Brendan Whitworth - CEO of the brand's parent company - was asked whether they made a mistake in partnering with Mulvaney, he said: "Just to be clear, it was a gift and it was one can."
In addition to this, Whitworth refused to rule out partnering with Mulvaney again during a CBS Mornings interview on Wednesday (June 28). He also told the interviewers that the company would provide financial support to wholesalers who have faced issues when selling the beer.
Following the CEO's comments, Mulvaney took to her Instagram on Thursday (June 29) to condemn the beer company for not supporting her in the nearly three months her sponsored ad was posted and sparked a major debate online.
"One thing I will not tolerate people saying about me is that I don't like beer because I love beer and I always have," she told her 1.8 million followers. "I built my platform on being honest with you, and what I'm about to tell you might sound like old news, but you know that feeling when you have something uncomfy sitting on your chest, well, that's how I feel right now."
The TikTok star explained that she decided to speak out about the controversy now because what "transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia" and that she was "scared of more backlash, and I felt personally guilty for what transpired".
She stated that she "patiently waited for things to get better but surprise, they haven't really," before claiming that Bud Light has yet to contact her. "I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did."
The social media personality went on to describe how her mental health and everyday life have been negatively impacted by the transphobic backlash, saying: "For months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house. I have been ridiculed in public. I’ve been followed.
"And I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. If this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people," added.
She then remarked that Bud Light hiring a trans person but not publicly standing by them is "worse than not hiring a trans person at all" because "it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want. And the hate doesn't end with me - it has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community. And we're customers, too."
The influencer - who rose to fame for her viral video series 'Days of Girlhood' - went on to express her disappointment in the brand for not speaking out about the ongoing transphobia. She also criticized people who have refused to "get political" amid the backlash.
She ended her video by noting that she’s going to "celebrate" how far she’s come, and "being alive," adding that she won't let the social media backlash get to her.
"No matter how many thousands of horrible messages [there are], or news anchors misgendering me, or companies going silent, [I know] that I can look in the mirror and see the woman that I am and that I’ve loved being," she concluded.
