TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney has revealed that she has been “followed on and off” over the past two months amid the ongoing furor over her Bud Light collaboration.
On April 1, the transgender influencer, 26, shared a video on Instagram in which she revealed that Bud Light had sent her a can with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman. Mulvaney’s Days of Girlhood video series, which charts her first year of transitioning, has been a viral success.
The Bud Light partnership drew condemnation from a number of conservative figures, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, with many issuing calls for a boycott of Bud Light. Musician Kid Rock reacted by sharing footage of himself opening fire on a stack of Bud Light cans, a move that was emulated by model Bri Teresi.
The furor reflects anti-transgender sentiment that has been growing across the United States, with bills targeting the rights of transgender people being embraced by Republican governors and statehouses across the country.
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Presumably because of the heightened attention, Mulvaney revealed in a TikTok post shared over the weekend that she has been followed while out and about.
“I’ve been followed on and off for the past two months,” she said in the clip, which was shot in a car and showed her makeup-free. “Usually, I just try to pretend it’s not happening, but today it really bugged me.”
Mulvaney went on to explain that she was “just going to get my laser hair removal, and I was in the office. I walked out and I was like, ‘I’m gonna lose them.’ And so I turned full on The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift. And I’m like, racing like down alleyways. I felt like Liam Neeson in Taken.”
“And I did it—I lost them. It was so exciting,” she went on. “But now I do think I might be addicted to drag racing and not the RuPaul kind. But it’s also just funny because I think they were trying to get a picture of me looking not great, but I feel great. And I’m just gonna post this on here. So you know, posting it for free.”
According to the New York Post, Mulvaney has earned more than $1 million through promoting brands on social media covering everything from fashion and skincare to grocery shopping.
However, her partnership with Bud Light in April captured headlines, with the collaboration leading to boycotts, derision and furor among conservatives.
At the time, a spokesperson for Bud Light’s owner, Anheuser-Busch, told Newsweek that the “commemorative” can was typical of its work with “hundreds of influencers” across its brands “as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.”
The spokesperson added that the commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
Following the criticism and reports of plummeting sales, some Bud Light executives took a leave of absence, including marketing head Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands.
In recent weeks, a number of social media users have shared photos and videos of Bud Light on store shelves and at venues in a bid to illustrate the purported success of their boycott of the beer brand.
Mulvaney broke her silence in a video shared on Instagram on April 28.
“What I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel,” she told her followers. “I don’t think that’s right. You know, dehumanization has never fixed anything in history ever.”
“I’m embarrassed to even tell you this, but I was nervous that you were going to start believing those things that they were saying about me, since it is so loud,” she added. “But I’m just gonna go ahead and trust that the people who know me and my heart won’t listen to that noise.”
The influencer has since returned to posting brand partnerships on social media. Last week, she shared a video promoting a product from K18 Hair.