Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has secured another major partnership deal, days after Bud Light was criticized for partnering with her.
Mulvaney, an actor and comedian who has been documenting her transition across social media, is now a sports bra model for Nike. It comes after Bud Light partnered with Mulvaney for her Day 365 Of Girlhood video series. The beer brand was met with scorn and calls for a boycott from furious social media users.
Initial reactions to Mulvaney's latest deal appeal to have riled some social media users up in the same way.
"Meet NIKE WOMEN'S Newest Ambassador...a biological man," wrote influencer Oli London, sharing Mulvaney's video clip of her wearing Nike's gear.
"Dylan Mulvaney is now being paid by Nike Women to promote sports bras—even though he's a man! Another day, another company slapping all women in the face by mocking them and paying a man to take their place!" he wrote.
Author and Republican influencer Brigitte Gabriel replied to London's tweet with fury. "This is disgusting. I am already boycotting Nike thankfully!" London agreed, suggesting people need to stop giving companies like Nike money. "Go Woke = Go Broke," he wrote.
Mulvaney announced her new sponsorship deal to her 1.7 million Instagram followers on Wednesday via her stories and grid. "Alert the media—I'm entering my workout era," she wrote as she posted a number of pictures and videos of her wearing the sports bra.
The comments section on Mulvaney's Instagram post was overwhelmingly positive, as her fans sent compliments and messages of support. Twitter, on the other hand, saw a great number of people, including London and Gabriel, criticizing her and Nike.
Verified users weighed in within the comment section of London's post stating they'll never give Nike money again, or questioning Mulvaney's gender identity.
"I can't," broadcaster Megyn Kelly wrote to her 2.7 million Twitter followers, retweeting the video of Mulvaney working out in Nike's gear.
"Nike using a man to promote women's clothing is par for the course for a company who sponsors a BLM cop-hater and uses Chinese slave labor to make their products to begin with..." wrote comedian Tim Young.
British journalist and reality TV star Sophie Corcoran brought up another sponsorship deal Mulvaney had with Tampax in her assessment of the situation. "Nike women and tampax are now sponsoring Dylan Mulvaney," she wrote. "Those sponsorships should be going to biological women."
Not everyone was against the brand and Mulvaney on Twitter though. Trans woman and journalist Becca Green shared her findings after searching what was causing the uproar. "I googled Dylan Mulvaney to get context and like...she's like the most inoffensive variety of trans woman imaginable and people still act like an ad partnership with her is somehow radical? I'm so tired," Green wrote.
Mulvaney's presence online has caused a huge reaction in recent days. Her partnership with Bud Light caused a great many people to speak out, including Kid Rock who shot a machine gun at crates of Bud Light.
Mulvaney and Drew Barrymore were both criticized after a recent segment on The Drew Barrymore Show. Barrymore knelt before Mulvaney during their interview, to which Candace Owen called out the actress and talk show host for her "desperate behavior."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
