Anheuser-Busch Responds to Dylan Mulvaney Calling Out Bud Light Amid Controversy

Anheuser-Busch is responding to Dylan Mulvaney's Instagram video she posted Thursday, in which she called out the beverage giant for not backing her amid the anti-trans rhetoric she received after being featured in the company's recent ad campaign. 

"As we've said, we remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community," an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson tells The Messenger in a statement. "The privacy and safety of our employees and our partners is always our top priority. As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers."

The company's response comes shortly after Mulvaney issued a pointed statement of her own. 

"I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did. I've been scared to leave my house," she said of the hate she's received since posting the original Bud Light collaboration video on April 1. "For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all. Because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and as hateful as they want."

Touching upon the multiple conservative outlets, organizations and individuals who called for a boycott of the brand after the video circulated, she continued: "You might be thinking, 'Dylan, why bring it up now?' I'm bringing it up because what transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined. I should have made this video months ago, but I didn't. I was scared, and I was scared of more backlash. I felt personally guilty for what transpired."

Mulvaney went on to say "the hate doesn't end with me," noting, "it has serious and grave consequences to our community. We're customers, too."

Both statements come a day after Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth dodged questions regarding hiring Mulvaney as a spokesperson on CBS Mornings.

"The conversation has become divisive and Bud Light shouldn't belong there," Whitworth stated on Wednesday. "Bud Light should be all about bringing people together."

"Bud Light has supported LGBTQ since 1998," he continued. "So that's 25 years and as we've said from the beginning, we'll continue to support communities and organizations that we've supported for decades."