Dylan Mulvaney says she ‘can’t sleep’ after Bud Light partnership backlash

Dylan Mulvaney has opened up about the backlash she received following her partnership with Bud Light and how it has caused her to lose sleep.

The transgender influencer appeared on Schuyler Bailar's podcast "Dear Schuyler," where she admitted she sometimes "can't sleep" at the thought of people disliking her but also noted one positive from experience.

“I remember even in college, just a few years ago, if one person potentially didn't like me it would keep me up at night and now there are hundreds of thousands of people that do not like me and I still sometimes can’t sleep but it in a weird way has been a blessing to sort of break that people-pleasing mentality," Mulvaney told the transgender athlete and activist.

“Because I can’t, there’s no way that I can win those people over.”

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The transgender influencer built a large online following (10.8m on TikTok) with her "Days of Girlhood" series as she documented her transition journey.

As a result, big brands such as Nike and Bud Light partnered with the 26-year-old who made promotional content for her socials - for example Bud Light helped Mulvaney celebrate her 'first year of womanhood' with personalised cans in a video Mulvaney posted to Instagram.

However, this prompted backlash from US conservatives who decided to boycott the company following it's collaboration with Mulvaney.

Kid Rock posted a video of himself aimlessly firing a rifle at crates of Bud Light. "F*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch. Have a terrific day."

Consequently, the boycott has led to the sales of Bud Light to fall, while this is also affecting other brands under parent company Anheuser-Busch, CBS News reported.

Since then, Mulvaney expressed how she accepted a number of opportunities - but didn't name the brands - and added how she's going to be "more diligent" with the opportunities she accepts in future.

“Now trying to be a little bit more diligent in what I’m accepting, because I kind of at the beginning, I took everything because I was in a scarcity mindset of like, ‘Oh my God, this might only last for so long,'" she said on the podcast.

She also noted her sadness at her social media page recently changing into a "culture war" in her comments section and reflected on her relationship with social media.

"I've been wondering a lot this past week what the psychological effects are, and will be, of being called a man thousands and thousands of times a day," she said.

"I want to be accessible to the right people but in other ways, if one person ruins it for us all I can't check the DMs, or I have to limit the comments."

Following the backlash, Bud Light responded with a statement, last month Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said the company aims to "bring people together over a beer" and they "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people."

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.