FLORENCE, Ky. — An avalanche of 'boycott Budweiser' tweets, many containing the hashtag #GoWokeGoBroke have followed trans TikTok influencer and University of Cincinnati graduate Dylan Mulvaney's brief partnership with the beer brand.
Celebrity Kid Rock posted a video on Twitter where he shot cans of Bud Light with a machine gun, while country music star Travis Tritt announced he would be deleting Anheuser-Busch products from his hospitality risers.
Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear. https://t.co/YgjO9P03tR
— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 6, 2023
Elliot Borgatti, a trans freshman at UC, said he wasn't surprised by the tidal wave of backlash but he was disappointed by the disgust some had shown to Mulvaney's post featuring Bud Light's beers.
"I think it's funny because Bud Light has been supporting LGBT organizations for years," he said.
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Borgatti said he feels like Anheuser-Busch was simply acknowledging trans people's existence.
"We're human beings," Borgatti said. "We're not pieces on a chess board. We're people just like everyone else who just want to live comfortably."
Down the road in Florence, Ky. the wave of internet backlash also crashed over Smokin' This and That BBQ — but not from conservative social media users. In a since-deleted Facebook post, owner Guy Cummins announced the barbecue restaurant and bar would no longer carry Budweiser and Bud Light due to "inappropriate labels."
"The hatefulness that's come our way has been amazing," Cummins said.
He said, however, that the decision to remove Budweiser products from the bar had nothing to do with Mulvaney or the online movement to boycott. Cummins said he had no clue the controversy was even happening.
"Honestly, I didn't know," he said. "I'm an old fat guy who does barbecue. I really didn't know."
The owner said he was trying to pull the product because patrons were harassing other patrons for drinking Bud Light after the company ran prior LGBTQ promotions, and he didn't want any conflict at the bar.
"Being a Marine, I don't like people fighting," Cummins said. "I've fought most of my life. I don't want it anymore."
Cummins said people of all races, genders and identities have been and are accepted inside his restaurant.
He also compelled people who have a problem with him or his establishment to, instead of posting online or leaving a negative review, come and talk with him.
"Come in and talk to me," Cummins said. "If you want to talk about something, come in and talk to me. I'll buy you lunch, we'll sit down and talk about it. I'll buy you a beer, and we'll sit down and talk about it over a beer."
That beer could still be a Budweiser or a Bud Light. Cummins said he will still be carrying the beers at his bar.
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