Anheuser-Busch heir Billy Busch reacts to Dylan Mulvaney controversy: 'Huge mistake'
Anheuser-Busch heir Billy Busch joined 'Hannity' to discuss why it's 'not wise' for beer companies to get involved in politics and how it 'miscalculated' the impact of the controversy.
Dylan Mulvaney bemoaned the "extreme amount of transphobia and hate" against the transgender community while speaking at an awards show for online content creators on Sunday.
While accepting the "Breakout Creator" award at The 2023 Streamy Awards, Mulvaney hinted at the fallout beer company Anheuser-Busch faced after partnering with the transgender influencer for a March Madness online campaign.
The beer giant lost billions in revenue and market value in recent months after it sent packs of Bud Light decorated with Mulvaney's face as a way to celebrate the transgender influencer's "365 Days of Girlhood."
Mulvaney celebrated the attention these videos created while also lamenting the negative reaction they brought.
ANHEUSER-BUSCH HEIR MAKES STUNNING ADMISSION ON BUD LIGHT CONTROVERSY: ‘A HUGE MISTAKE’
Dylan Mulvaney hinted at the Bud Light partnership backlash at the Streamy Awards. (Getty Images | DylanMulvaney Instagram)
"My life has been changed for the better," Mulvaney said at the Streamys. "But on the flipside, there's also been an extreme amount of transphobia and hate, and I know that my community is feeling it, and I know that even our allies are feeling it."
The social media star encouraged the fellow content creators in the room to stand up "publicly and proudly" for the transgender community.
"I think allyship right now needs to look differently. You need to support trans people publicly and proudly," Mulvaney said, before being interrupted by applause.
However, Mulvaney was "optimistic" for the future, saying that "people often underestimate" trans folks, as well as online content creators.
Bud Light sales have plummeted since a promotional partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney caused widespread backlash. (Instagram)
Thanking the crowd, the influencer quipped, "I’m gonna go have a beer and I love ya," before exiting the stage.
Mulvaney previously addressed the Bud Light backlash in a video last June, saying the March Madness post prompted more bullying and "more transphobia than I could’ve ever imagined."
The influencer also blasted the company for not being supportive as Mulvaney dealt with the "transphobia."
"For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all, because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want," Mulvaney said at the time.
A sign disparaging Bud Light beer is seen along a country road on April 21, 2023, in Arco, Idaho. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)
Billy Busch, the Anheuser-Busch heir, has said his ancestors would've "rolled over in their graves" over the polarizing partnership with the transgender influencer and said Bud Light must do something "drastic" to turn its brand around.
Busch, whose family sold Anheuser-Busch to InBev in 2008, declared he would be the "first in line" to buy back the company and "make that brand great again."
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Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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