Dylan Mulvaney is loving the attention, hopes Bud Light controversy will kick off her Broadway career: Sources
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Dylan Mulvaney is apparently banking on the old adage that all publicity is good publicity. The trans influencer, 26, is hoping the backlash over her Bud Light partnership will propel her Broadway career, with sources claiming she prefers champagne over beer anyway.
In early April, Mulvaney posted a video on Instagram, revealing that Bud Light had sent her a can featuring her face to celebrate her first anniversary of living as a woman. The collaboration between Mulvaney and Bud Light sparked outrage among anti-trans feminist circles as well as its mainly conservative customer base. Many people called for a boycott of the brand and urged others to dispose of their beer stockpiles. However, it seems the trans star wants to make the best of her newfound notoriety.
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"Dylan is a lady who likes the finer things in life, like champagne and caviar," a pal told Radar Online. "She isn't the type of girl who chows down on chicken wings and beer." According to the insider, the controversial influencer is hoping the uproar over her strategic alliance with Bud Light takes her career from TikTok to the stage. "She's loving the attention and hopes it gets her a return to Broadway as a leading lady," the friend added. On the other hand, the beermaker is desperately hoping to rebound from a 21 percent sales slump following the backlash.
MEAWW previously reported how two of the Anheuser-Busch InBev executives who approved the beer brand's partnership with Mulvaney have been placed on leave in light of the controversy. Both Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, and her boss, Daniel Blake, Budweiser's group vice president for marketing, are said to have taken leaves of absence after facing criticism and death threats after the partnership came to light last month — rumors are that these leaves of absence were not voluntary. "Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support," a spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch told The Wall Street Journal. "Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence." The collaboration notably enraged Bud Light's conservative patrons, with country star Kid Rock firing an automatic rifle at cases of Bud Light and declaring, “F--- Bud Light, and f--- Anheuser-Busch."
Mulvaney addressed the backlash after weeks of silence. “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 hearing my name and I didn’t even know who they were talking about sometimes,” she told her followers on Instagram last week. “It’s a very dissociative feeling. And it was so loud that I didn’t feel part of the conversation, so I decided to take the back seat and just let them tucker themselves out.” The influencer continued, “But I’ve always tried to love everyone, you know, even the people who make it really, really hard. 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.” She added, “I just, I don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”
Meanwhile, Bud Light is doing everything in its power to win back its right-wing base. The beermaker is expected to "spend heavily" on marketing in light of calls to boycott the brand altogether after its marketing 'misstep'.