Dylan Mulvaney is “a thousand times stronger” after the Bud Light scandal she was mired in two years ago.
“I’m finally in a place that I have healed and I’m in such a good mental headspace,” she shared in an interview with People published Saturday. “I feel like I’m really ready for the world to know what that experience was like behind the scenes.”
Mulvaney details that experience in her new book “Paper Doll: Notes From a Late Bloomer,” which hits shelves on March 11.
She also told the outlet she was “disappointed” by Bud Light’s comments surrounding the furor and said she’d hoped her campaign with the beer brand would have been a “positive step toward trans acceptance.”
Mulvaney and Bud Light unveiled their partnership during the March Madness tournament in 2023. Among other things, the deal featured a can of beer with her face on it. Some conservative pop culture pundits, politicians and other figures immediately launched an outrage campaign against the pairing, with musicians like Kid Rock even disassociating themselves from the beer brand.
The fury came in the context of a larger campaign against trans rights in states controlled by Republicans across the U.S., something that was underway well before the deal was announced. After two weeks of silence, Anheuser-Busch released a statement by CEO Brendan Whitworth that neither apologized for the campaign nor stood by it; as a result, it unintentionally united transphobes and trans rights supporters in mockery.
Mulvaney took a break from social media following the ordeal, but is now back. “I’m doing OK and I’m trying this new thing where I don’t pressure myself to share anything before I’m ready,” she explained. “And I’m actually sitting with my emotions, you know, not reacting, waiting to respond.”
“And shockingly, I can’t recommend it more. Like, therapy is paying off here, people,” the influencer added. “What I’m struggling with most is that I grew up in a conservative family and I’m extremely privileged because they still love me very much, and I grew up in the church and I still have my faith, which I am really trying to hold onto right now.”
“But I’ve always tried to love everyone. You know, even the people that make it really, really hard,” Mulvaney added. “And I think it’s OK to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just, I don’t think that’s right. You know, dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”
