Bud Light is donating $200,000 to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, after controversy about their collaboration with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
In April, Dylan Mulvaney participated in a paid promotion for Bud Light, with the beer company sending her a handful of beers, including one printed with her face, and she used them to celebrate the one-year-anniversary of her transition. Bud Light promoted her videos, which made many transphobes very angry.
Right-wing voices became hysterical over the video, and called for a boycott of the apparently “woke” brand. One celebrity, Kid Rock, posted a video of himself shooting a few cases of Bud Light, in what many feel is a veiled threat to trans people. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted a misspelled tweet about the topic.
Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro whined about the collaboration on his show, saying, “Well, folks, our culture has now decided men are women and women are men and you must be forced to consume products that say so.”
During the controversy, Bud Light did not issue any statements supporting Mulvaney, even when her life was threatened and her home address released on hate-group sites. Two people who had approved the collaboration with her were apparently placed on suspension.
On Tuesday, two weeks after several bomb threats to their offices, Bud Light announced they were extending their partnership with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) to support LGBT-owned businesses in the U.S.
“We look forward to extending our work with the NGLCC to continue making a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ businesses that play a critical role in bringing people everywhere, together,” said a statement by Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light.
Anheuser-Busch states it is “committed to the programs and partnerships they have forged over decades with organizations to drive economic prosperity across a number of communities”.
It adds the company has a “strong” record of supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
Alongside the financial donation to the NGLCC, the brand will also support the NGLCC’s first CoCi Biz Pitch program in which the winning minority LGBTQ+ business owner will get a prize of $5,000.
Photo: Michael Vi / Shutterstock