Dylan Mulvaney, the multi-hyphenated trans influencer, posted a video on TikTok on Thursday giving an update to her millions of followers.
“It’s day 9,610 of being a human,” Mulvaney begins the video, referencing her series documenting her transition called “Days of Girlhood.”
She then says that she’s leaving gender out of the video “since that’s how we found ourselves here.”
The controversy began after Mulvaney posted a video online drinking Bud Light and thanking the company for “possibly the best gift ever.”
Conservatives reacted violently, literally, to the marketing campaign. While many on the right called for a boycott of Bud Light, some went to extremes. For example, Kid Rock shot up a stack of cases of Bud Light with an automatic rifle in a video he posted on social media. Others have gone to stores that carry the product and have been caught on video vandalizing displays and coolers selling Bud Light.
The company initially stood behind its decision to include a prominent transgender influencer in its marketing campaign, with Heinersheid defending her decision to green-light the project.
But after days of backlash, Anheuser-Busch, which owns Bud Light, backtracked with a statement by CEO Brendan Whitworth that appeared apologetic about including 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 wrote.
Two execs have gone on leave after the ordeal.
In the video shared Thursday evening, Mulvaney gets personal, sharing, “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. It’s a very dissociative feeling.”
Mulvaney says she decided to not engage in hopes that the critics would “tucker themselves out.”
She says that she realized, however, that millions of people had chosen to follow her: “I want to talk to those people. So, hi, long time no talk, how are you?”
Mulvaney explains that she’s been grabbling with the cruelty of people against her.
“I’ve always tried to love everyone, you know, even the people that 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 says in the post. “I just don’t think that’s right.”
She tells her followers she did get concerned that some of her fans would start thinking badly of her because of the backlash and what the transphobic critics were saying.
“I’m just going to go ahead and trust that the people who know me and my heart won’t listen to that noise,” Mulvaney says.
The creative also explains that going forward she’ll focus not so much on her identity but on what she loves.
“I’m hoping those parts will still be exciting to you and will be enough and to those of you who support me and choose to see my humanity, even if you don’t fully understand or relate to me.”
Mulvaney ends the video with a positive message saying that she’s no longer a people pleaser after this experience.
“If you’re still around, I am too.”
Love ya ❤️❤️
Love ya ❤️❤️
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