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Tag: Dylan Mulvaney

  • Dylan Mulvaney Attempts Standup Comedy Career – Immediately Gets Shut Down

    Dylan Mulvaney Attempts Standup Comedy Career – Immediately Gets Shut Down

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    Opinion

    Source: The Quartering YouTube

    The transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney is trying to launch a standup comedy career. Unfortunately for the influencer, however, it is not going well, as social media users are blasting Mulvaney’s jokes as being “cringe.”

    Mulvaney’s Standup Comedy Act

    Daily Mail reported that after costing Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch $1.4 billion in sales last year, Mulvaney decided that standup comedy was the way to go. It didn’t take long for social media users to shut this notion down, however.

    After Mulvaney took the stage at a Utah comedy club, viewers said that the set was “cringe” and that the audience was “clapping not because it’s funny, but because they want to be supportive.”

    “Look at me doing stand up,” Mulvaney said in a clip posted to social media after appearing at Wiseguys Salt Lake City back in January while wearing a knitted pink crop top and white skirt.

    Mulvaney went on to touch on the Bud Light boycott that was launched by conservatives last year after the brand teamed up with the transgender influencer.

    “The conservative men are just p****d that I can beat them in beer pong,” Mulvaney said. “And the conservative women are p****d that their kids are calling me ‘mother’ in all of my Instagram comments.”

    Related: Bud Light Boycott Reportedly Cost Anheuser-Busch InBev $1.4 Billion After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

    Social Media Users Fire Back

    Though Mulvaney claimed to be “so happy” that the show “went so well,” social media users made it clear that this was not the case at all.

    “Dylan Mulvaney is arguably one of the most attention-seeking individuals in recent history,” one user commented, with another simply adding, “Soooo cringe.”

    “Confirmed, not even men pretending to be women are good at comedy,” a third user commented. A fourth person wrote, “I feel like the clapping is not because it’s funny, but because they want to be supportive, Which is sweet, but not comedy.”

    After Mulvaney teamed up with Bud Light for a partnership last year, conservatives launched a highly effective boycott of the brand that resulted in its parent company Anheuser-Busch losing $1.4 billion in 2023, “primarily due to the volume declined of Bud Light,” according to CNN, citing the brewer’s fourth-quarter earnings report.

    “In the U.S., performance remains very underwhelming with revenue down at double-digit rates as the group lost market share,” said Aarin Chiekrie, an equity analyst at online investing platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

    Related: Dylan Mulvaney Rejoices After Scoring New Female Gender Marker On Passport

    Mulvaney Abandons Bud Light

    Mulvaney abandoned Bud Light almost immediately after the boycott began.

    “For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all,” Mulvaney said in a video posted to social media in June of last year, according to Billboard. “It gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.”

    “And the hate doesn’t end with me. It has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community,” Mulvaney added. “And we’re customers too. I know a lot of trans and queer people who love beer.”

    Mulvaney went on to claim to be “scared” to leave the house, and to be experiencing “a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

    “To turn a blind eye and pretend everything is OK — it just isn’t an option right now,” Mulvaney concluded. “And you might say, ‘But Dylan, I don’t want to get political.’ Babe, supporting trans people, it shouldn’t be political. There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us.”

    There is quite literally nothing funny about Mulvaney, so we can’t imagine why the transgender influencer thought standup comedy was a good idea. Only time will tell if Mulvaney decides to grab the microphone and subject the world to an unfunny standup comedy set again.

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  • Bud Light Hasn’t ‘Done A Good Job’ In Attempted Comeback, Ex-Anheuser-Busch Exec Says

    Bud Light Hasn’t ‘Done A Good Job’ In Attempted Comeback, Ex-Anheuser-Busch Exec Says

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    Opinion

    Source YouTube: CBS News, India Today

    Bud Light has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since it teamed up with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a partnership in April of last year. Though Bud Light has been frantically trying to save the brand over the past few months, a former executive with Anheuser-Busch is speaking out to say that they have not “done a good job.”

    Bud Light Hasn’t ‘Done A Good Job’

    Anson Frericks, a former president of operations for Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch, told Fox Business that the brand is having difficulty winning back consumers because Anheuser-Busch has not asked the customers “to come back to them.” 

    “They haven’t done a good job of climbing out of this ditch at all,” Frericks said. “You still have sales that are down 30% week over week, and that’s despite them last summer spending three times their planned marketing budget on Bud Light.”

    Watch him talk more about this in the video below.

    Mulvaney Partnership ‘Was A Mistake’

    Last summer, Frericks admitted that Bud Light made a “mistake” in teaming up with Mulvaney.

    “[Bud Light] was the largest brand in the U.S. because it was remarkably apolitical,” he stated. “It was always about sports, it was always about music, it was about bringing people together. That’s why it was a mistake that they did this campaign in the first place because they were unable to come out.”

    “This campaign was a mistake,” Frericks continued. “Anheuser-Busch will not be doing campaigns like this moving forward. We’ll get back to the things that bring everybody together. Hopefully that can protect the jobs at Anheuser-Busch, jobs at wholesalers and get this company back growing in the right direction.”

    Frericks concluded by calling on Anheuser-Busch executives to “harken back to what Bud Light always was, which is a great beer that was great to drink at football games and didn’t necessarily become part of the debate.”

    Related: Ex-Anheuser-Busch Exec Finally Admits Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney Partnership ‘Was A Mistake’

    Trump And Kid Rock Forgive Bud Light

    Bud Light has managed to win some people back, however. Earlier this month, the former President Donald Trump called on his supporters to give Bud Light another chance.

    “The Bud Light ad was a mistake of epic proportions, and for that a very big price was paid, but Anheuser-Busch is not a Woke company,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

    “Anheuser-Busch is a Great American Brand that perhaps deserves a Second Chance?” he continued. “What do you think? Perhaps, instead, we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA!”

    Related: Trump Joins Kid Rock, Says Conservatives Should Give Bud Light ‘A Second Chance’

    The singer Kid Rock, who famously shot up cases of Bud Light in reaction to the Mulvaney partnership, also wants the brand to be forgiven.

    “Do I wanna hold their head underwater and drown them because they made a mistake?” he said in December, according to The Tennessean. “No, I think they got the message.”

    Kid Rock went on to say that it is primarily the working class, the “people who don’t have a dog in the fight” who are ultimately harmed by things like the Bud Light boycott.

    “They screwed up, they made a mistake,” he said. I’m over it.”

    Do you agree with Frericks that Bud Light hasn’t done enough to win back consumers, or do you think it’s time to forgive and forget? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • Fans Turn On Conservative Comedian Shane Gillis After He Teams Up With Bud Light – ‘You Sold Out’

    Fans Turn On Conservative Comedian Shane Gillis After He Teams Up With Bud Light – ‘You Sold Out’

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    Opinion

    Source YouTube: Comedy Central Stand-Up, CBS News

    Yesterday, we reported that the conservative comedian Shane Gillis had teamed up with Bud Light after the brand lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year in the wake of partnering with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Now, this move has backfired, as fans have turned on Gillis for doing this.

    Gillis Slammed For Teaming Up With Bud Light

    Gillis, 36, announced that he was teaming up with the beer company in an Instagram post marked “paid partnership with Bud Light.”

    “Excited to announce partnership with Bud Light #budlightpartner,” Gillis wrote.

    Unfortunately for Gillis, however, fans immediately roasted him in the comments section of this post.

    “Bud Light is trying so hard and you sold out, well done,” one user commented, with another adding, “Shout out to budlight for working with the disabled!”

    “Dylan mulshaney,” a third user commented. A fourth person wrote, “First year of womanhood for you too.”

    This was a reference to Bud Light celebrating Mulvaney’s “365 days of girlhood” last April by giving the transgender influencer a commemorative can.

    Bud Light Celebrates Gillis Partnership

    Despite the backlash, Bud Light is standing by Gillis.

    “Welcome to the team @shanemgillis, excited to be a part of your 2024 tour,” Bud Light stated on Instagram

    Todd Allen, Vice President of Marketing for Bud Light, celebrated the Gillis partnership.

    “Humor has always been at the heart of the Bud Light brand and central to our ‘Easy Enjoyment’ platform,” he told Fox News. “We’re excited to partner with longtime fan of Bud Light, Shane Gillis, for his 2024 Live Comedy Tour where a good time with friends is always easy to enjoy.”

    This comes as sales of Bud Light continue to plummet, with sales in the first two weeks of 2024 down 28.9 percent from the year before, according to Daily Mail. This is largely due to conservatives launching a highly affective boycott of Bud Light over the brand teaming up with the transgender influencer Mulvaney.

    Related: Bud Light Teams Up With Conservative Comedian Shane Gillis After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

    Gillis Addresses Bud Light’s Mulvaney Debacle

    Gillis addressed the Bud Light and Mulvaney fallout while appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last year.

    “It became a joke, and that is tough to overcome marketing wise,” Gillis said at the time. “It’s tough to get people to order a Bud Light publicly because you are gonna get made fun of.”

    “They should hire kid Rock to be the spokesman,” host Joe Rogan replied, according to Newsweek.

    “We talked about it last night, that would be the best,” Gillis continued in agreement.

    Related: Bud Light Attempts Comeback With New Super Bowl Ad After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

    Gillis Dropped By ‘SNL’

    Gillis is a conservative comedian who was targeted by cancel culture back in 2019 when he was dropped as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live!” just five days after it was announced that he would be joining the show. Gillis was reportedly axed after jokes surfaced that he had made on a podcast years prior that some felt were both racist and homophobic.

    “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining ‘SNL,’” the sketch comedy show said at the time, according to Fox News. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”

    Partnering with Gillis was a clear and desperate attempt by Bud Light to win back the conservative consumers it lost by teaming up with Mulvaney. Unfortunately for both Gillis and Bud Light, however, this move seems to have blown up in each of their faces.

    Do you think it’s simply too late for Bud Light to ever make a comeback, or is there still a chance for the brand? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • Bud Light Teams Up With Conservative Comedian Shane Gillis After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

    Bud Light Teams Up With Conservative Comedian Shane Gillis After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

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    Opinion

    Source: Shane Gillis Instagram, CBS News YouTube

    Bud Light lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year after teaming up with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a partnership back in April.

    Now, Bud Light is desperately trying to backtrack, as the brand has just announced that it is partnering up with the conservative comedian Shane Gillis, who was dropped as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” after only five days due to footage emerging of him making what some felt were racist and homophobic jokes.

    Bud Light Teams Up With Gillis

    Gillis, 36, announced that he was teaming up with the brand in an Instagram post marked “paid partnership with Bud Light.”

    “Excited to announce partnership with Bud Light #budlightpartner,” Gillis wrote.

    “Welcome to the team @shanemgillis, excited to be a part of your 2024 tour,” Bud Light added in a separate post

    The Street described this partnership as being “somewhat shocking because Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) CEO Michel Doukeris said during his company’s second-quarter earnings call that he intended to avoid making political statements.”

    “Our consumers across all sentiment groups have three points of feedback in common,” Doukeris reportedly said. “One, they want to enjoy their beer without a debate. Two, they want Bud Light to focus on beer. Three, they want Bud Light to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, such as NFL, Fields of Honor, and music.”

    “After that statement was made, however, the company then immediately became the largest sponsor of UFC, the mixed martial arts group run by Dana White, a friend and supporter of Donald Trump who has done nothing to stop his fighters from going on anti-transgender rants,” the Street added.

    Related: Bud Light Attempts Comeback With New Super Bowl Ad After Dylan Mulvaney Debacle

    Gillis Addresses Bud Light Sales Plummeting

    This comes as sales of Bud Light continue to plummet, with sales in the first two weeks of 2024 down 28.9 percent from the year before, according to Daily Mail. This is largely due to conservatives launching a highly affective boycott of Bud Light over the brand teaming up with the transgender influencer Mulvaney.

    Gillis addressed the Bud Light and Mulvaney fallout while appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last year.

    “It became a joke, and that is tough to overcome marketing wise,” Gillis said. “It’s tough to get people to order a Bud Light publicly because you are gonna get made fun of.”

    “They should hire kid Rock to be the spokesman,” host Joe Rogan said, according to Newsweek.

    “We talked about it last night, that would be the best,” Gillis continued in agreement.

    Related: Kid Rock Forgives Bud Light ‘As A Christian’ – ‘They Made A Mistake’

    Gillis Dropped By ‘SNL’

    Gillis definitely knows a thing or two about cancel culture. Back in 2019, he was dropped as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live!” just five days after it was announced that he would be joining the show. Gillis was reportedly axed after jokes surfaced that he had made on a podcast years prior that some felt were both racist and homophobic.

    “After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining ‘SNL,’” the sketch comedy show said at the time, according to Fox News. “We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”

    The fact that Bud Light would team up with Gillis shows just how desperate the brand is to win back the conservative consumers that it alienated last year with its Mulvaney partnership. Only time will tell whether this move will pay off for Bud Light in the end.

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  • Dylan Mulvaney Rejoices After Scoring New Female Gender Marker On Passport

    Dylan Mulvaney Rejoices After Scoring New Female Gender Marker On Passport

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    Opinion

    Source: Screenshot Dylan Mulvaney TikTok

    Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender influencer who cost Bud Light hundreds of millions of dollars last year after teaming up with the brand for a partnership, is celebrating after scoring a new female gender marker on a passport.

    Mulvaney’s New Passport

    “Starting 2024 with a new passport and an essay I wrote for @portermagazine on my pledge to stop people pleasing,” Mulvaney wrote on social media alongside a photo of the document. “Here’s to ease through TSA and the year ahead.”

    Mulvaney included a link to a Porter essay in which the 26 year-old transgender influencer admitted that anxiety surrounding people-pleasing “is most noticeable at the airport.”

    “I show up in a sweats set, but add femme accessories and earrings in the hope of not being misgendered,” Mulvaney wrote. “The TSA step-through scan is my worst enemy, and often I have to whisper into the officer’s ear, ‘Um, I’m trans.’ Has this TSA officer seen my videos? Do they believe trans people exist? Once I make it through security, I pull my face mask up and race through the terminal.”

    Related: Dylan Mulvaney Gives Update On Dating Life Months After Bud Light Debacle – ‘I Feel Gorgeous’

    Mulvaney Scared Of Airport Bathrooms

    “Airport bathrooms scare me more than anywhere else. I pray my mask hides the whiskers on my face that I still have left from hours of electrolysis and laser, though I know cis women have facial hair, too. Once I make it to the gate, I try to sit facing a wall so that no one can catch my eye,” the transgender influencer added. “I’m too nervous of the potential for hateful comments, which has happened plenty of times prior. I realize this limits me from the flipside – meeting lovely people who support me – but I don’t know if it’s worth taking the chance.”

    Mulvaney went on to say that 2023 ended “on an exciting note” with the passport female gender marker update.

    “I just got my gender marker and photo changed on my passport, so now the airport should be a little less daunting in 2024,” wrote Mulvaney. “I hope everything will be less daunting.”

    “I hope that love pours over the hate and, most importantly, that the majority of the love comes from within,” Mulvaney concluded. “Because, really, the only person I need to please is myself.”

    Related: Dylan Mulvaney Named Woman Of The Year At Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards – ‘I Didn’t Feel Like The Trans Beer Girl’

    Bud Light Boycott

    This comes after Daily Mail reported that Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch announced that revenue in the U.S. fell by 13.5 percent between July and September in the wake of the Mulvaney partnership that came out back in April. On top of that, sales to U.S. retailers were also down 17 percent during that time period, with Anheuser-Busch admitting that this was largely due to a drop in demand for Bud Light.

    As for Bud Light specifically, its sales were down 29 percent in the four weeks that ended on October 21 compared to the same period one year ago. This is in the wake of conservatives launching a highly affective boycott of Bud Light after the company teamed up with Mulvaney for the April partnership.

    What do you think about Mulvaney’s new passport? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • Kid Rock Fires Back At Megyn Kelly After She Slams Him For Dropping Bud Light Boycott

    Kid Rock Fires Back At Megyn Kelly After She Slams Him For Dropping Bud Light Boycott

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    Opinion

    Source: YouTube, Fox News, Megyn Kelly

    Kid Rock recently announced that he is dropping his boycott of Bud Light that he launched after the brand teamed up with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a partnership back in April. He is now firing back at the former Fox News host Megyn Kelly after she slammed him for ditching this boycott.

    Kelly Rips Kid Rock

    During an appearance on Newsmax, Kid Rock was asked about comments made by Kelly, who recently blasted him for ending his Bud Light boycott.

    “This is like the only successful boycott that Republicans have ever engaged in,” Kelly said on her SiriusXM show. “It’s the only time they’ve stuck together and actually been heard. And because Kid Rock and Dana White want to give it up, we’re supposed to all surrender our principles now.”

    “And I like Kid Rock. I actually do. I like the guy, but he’s wrong. He can do what he wants. If he wants to drink a Bud Light, he can. He does not speak for the rest of us!” she continued. “Many of us are still deeply offended by that brand’s partnership with the person who makes his living mocking women, Dylan Mulvaney. Not to mention what they said about their core audience and customer base, which is that they’ve ‘gotten too fratty and they want to get away from them.’ Who at Bud Light thinks that we do what Kid Rock tells us to?”

    Check out Kelly’s full comments on this in the video below.

    Related: Kid Rock Forgives Bud Light ‘As A Christian’ – ‘They Made A Mistake’

    Kid Rock Fires Back

    When asked about her remarks, Kid Rock was quick to fire back at her.

    “Well, first of all, first off, I love Megyn,” he began. “We’ve been friends for a long time, but she’s got this one wrong. Saying me and Dana don’t speak for conservatives, neither one of us ever said we did. You know, I explained myself before on another program about Bud Light.”

    “I’m pretty sure they got the message,” he added. “Do I agree with what they did? F no! And we held their head under water for quite some time and we hurt them. But, you know, I’m not someone to keep punching somebody when they’re down, when there’s a whole lot more companies deserving of this treatment.”

    “And, you know, and Dana has told me specifically as a very good friend of mine about, you know, the things they’ve done through the years with Folds of Honor,” Kid Rock continued. “So has Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, for that matter, and countless other things. And I’m like, I get it. They made a mistake. All right. I don’t need to kill them.”

    Check out Kid Rock’s full comments on this in the video below.

    Related: Kid Rock Goes Ballistic Over Bud Light’s New Transgender Campaign – ‘F*** Bud Light!’

    Kid Rock Ends Bud Light Boycott

    This comes weeks after Kid Rock announced that he is ending his Bud Light boycott.

    “At the end of the day, when you step back and look at it, like, yeah, they deserved a black eye and they got one. They made a mistake,” Kid Rock told Tucker Carlson earlier this month. “So, do I want to hold their head under water and drown them because they made a mistake? No, I think they got the message.”

    “Hopefully, other companies get it too but, at the end of the day, I don’t think the punishment that they’ve been getting at this point fits the crime,” he added. “I would like to see us back on board and become bigger because that’s the America that I want to live in.”

    Do you think Kid Rock is right to forgive Bud Light, or should this boycott continue? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • Bill Gates Has Already Lost Millions On His Bud Light Comeback Bet

    Bill Gates Has Already Lost Millions On His Bud Light Comeback Bet

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    Bill Gates, the seventh-richest person in the world according to the Forbes 2023 list, has been losing money on one of his latest investment bets.

    Gates, who amassed his wealth by cofounding and leading Microsoft Corp. for decades before retiring in 2008, has since focused on investing in private corporations and publicly traded companies.

    In the fiscal second quarter of 2023, Gates purchased over 1.7 million shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD), maker of popular beer brands including Bud Light and Corona. Headquartered in Brussels, Anheuser-Busch InBev is the world’s largest brewer and one of the largest alcohol companies globally.

    But Anheuser-Busch InBev has been stirring up controversy over the past couple of months after it hired transgender influencer and social media personality Dylan Mulvaney to promote Bud Light on Instagram. This caused the Belgian brewery’s popularity in the U.S. to deteriorate, with many prominent personalities calling for a boycott of its signature Bud Light beer.

    Don’t Miss:

    Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Performance So Far In 2023

    In the second quarter that ended June 30, AB InBev’s U.S. revenue plummeted by 10.5%, primarily because of Bud Light’s declining sales volume. The company’s core profit fell by 28.2%, while total global sales volume fell 1.4% year over year in the last reported quarter. However, the company’s strong global presence allowed it to offset losses from the U.S., as its total revenue rose 7.2% year over year.

    While AB InBev’s normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 5% year over year in the same period, its net profits and earnings per share (EPS) declined compared to the second quarter of 2022.

    Constellation Brands Inc.’s Modelo became the top-selling beer in the United States in May during the height of the Bud Light controversy, as AB InBev’s sales plunged by nearly 25%.

    AB InBev aimed to distance itself from Mulvaney’s social media post following the controversy, which was also off-putting to many progressives. The world’s largest brewer essentially “managed to alienate both conservatives and progressives in one fell swoop,” according to Zak Stambor, a senior analyst at Insider Intelligence.

    AB InBev’s Pivoting Strategy To Regain Momentum

    “In the U.S., we are listening and actively engaging with our consumers,” AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris said during a quarterly earnings call. “They want to enjoy their beer without a debate, they want us to focus and concentrate on platforms that all consumers love.”

    To this end, the company surveyed Bud Light consumers through a third party and found that approximately 80% of the 170,000 respondents remained neutral or favorable.

    AB InBev also determined through engagement with its U.S. customers that they want “their beer without a debate” and “Bud Light to focus on beer.”

    The company’s efforts to put the controversy behind it are expected to be fruitful in the near term, as analysts expect AB InBev’s revenue and EPS to improve sequentially in the about-to-be-reported third quarter. The consensus revenue estimate of $15.71 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 indicates a 2.2% improvement quarter-over-quarter. In addition, analysts estimate AB InBev’s EPS to amount to $0.83 in the last quarter, up from $0.68 generated in the second quarter.

    Gates’ Portfolio: YTD Performance

    Gates acquired 1,703,000 million shares of AB InBev in the second quarter for nearly $100 million through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. However, with AB InBev’s share price falling because of the recent controversy and declining sales in the U.S., Gates has lost over $6 million on his investment in the beer company.

    While Gates’s recent investment is in the red, his other investments, notably in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK), have surged by over 9% year to date. As of June 30, Gates owns nearly 25.14 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway, which accounts for 20.4% of his portfolio.

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    This article Bill Gates Has Already Lost Millions On His Bud Light Comeback Bet originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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    © 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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  • Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on harassment following Bud Light controversy – National | Globalnews.ca

    Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on harassment following Bud Light controversy – National | Globalnews.ca

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    Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has broken her silence about transphobic backlash after a video she made in partnership with Bud Light led to harassment from people who vowed to boycott the beer company. Bud Light is now no longer the top-selling beer in America, ceding that spot to Modelo.

    Mulvaney, 26, said Bud Light failed to stand with her amid the outrage as she faced a wave of hate that left her afraid to leave her home.

    “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,” she said in a TikTok posted Thursday.

    The controversy began in April when Mulvaney posted a video to her Instagram page promoting Bud Light, which sent her a beer can with her face on it as part of a March Madness campaign. Prominent conservatives were quick to respond with videos of their own, showing themselves destroying Bud Light stock while complaining the company had gone “woke.”

    Story continues below advertisement

    Musician Kid Rock went viral in a video of him shooting cases of Bud Light beer with an assault rifle.

    In response, Bud Light CEO and Anheuser-Busch owner Brendan Whitworth wrote a tepid statement: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”


    Click to play video: 'Suspected Bud Light purchase likely led to altercation outside Vaughan liquor store: police'


    Suspected Bud Light purchase likely led to altercation outside Vaughan liquor store: police


    Mulvaney feels the company’s response wasn’t enough, and criticized Bud Light for failing to reach out to her in the months since the controversy began.

    “What transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined,” Mulvaney said. “For months now I’ve been scared to leave my house, I’ve been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

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    “I patiently waited for things to get better, but surprise, they haven’t really. And I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me but they never did.”

    The TikTok star, who has more than 10 million followers on the platform, indicated that Bud Light’s lack of a response to the wave of hate “gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.”

    “To turn a blind eye and pretend everything is OK, it just isn’t an option right now,” she said.

    A statement from Anheuser-Busch didn’t address whether the company reached out to Mulvaney.

    “We remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. The privacy and safety of our employees and our partners is always our top priority. As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers,” a spokesperson wrote.

    Mulvaney said in her video that she’s not looking for pity in sharing her experience with harassment.

    “I’m telling you this because if this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people,” she said. “The hate doesn’t end with me. It has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community and, you know, we’re customers too. I know a lot of trans and queer people who love beer, and I have some lesbian friends who could drink some of those haters under the table.”

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    Mulvaney first rose to fame on TikTok with her “Days of Girlhood” series of videos, which saw her document her gender transition near-daily while racking up hundreds of millions of views.

    She urged her followers on Thursday to support the transgender community and to continue doing so outside of Pride Month.

    “Supporting trans people, it shouldn’t be political,” she said. “There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us, and I know it’s possible, because I’ve worked with some fantastic companies who care. But caring about the LGBTQ+ community requires a lot more than just a donation somewhere during Pride Month.”

    Mulvaney first addressed the controversy from her Bud Light partnership in an earlier video in April, though she didn’t mention Bud Light by name.

    “I’ve always tried to love everyone, even the people that make it really, really hard,” Mulvaney said. “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.

    “Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”


    Click to play video: 'Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on Bud Light controversy: “Dehumanization has never fixed anything”'


    Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on Bud Light controversy: “Dehumanization has never fixed anything”


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  • Dylan Mulvaney speaks out on Bud Light controversy: ‘Dehumanization has never fixed anything’ – National | Globalnews.ca

    Dylan Mulvaney speaks out on Bud Light controversy: ‘Dehumanization has never fixed anything’ – National | Globalnews.ca

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    Social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been bombarded by hateful rhetoric online since she partnered with Bud Light earlier this month, prompting widespread backlash from right-wing, anti-transgender voices.

    Now, the 26-year-old TikToker is finally ready to talk about it.

    Following a several-week break from social media, Mulvaney reappeared online Thursday to discuss the controversy. Though she did not mention Bud Light by name, Mulvaney, who is transgender, had a clear message for her 10.8 million followers.

    “I’m going to try to leave gender out of this, since that’s how we found ourselves here,” Mulvaney started.

    She played on her ever-popular “Days of Girlhood” series of videos on TikTok — which sees Mulvaney document her gender transition near-daily — and said she recorded the TikTok on “Day 9610 of being a human.”

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    @dylanmulvaney

    Love ya ❤️❤️

    ♬ original sound – Dylan Mulvaney

    “I’ve always tried to love everyone, even the people that make it really, really hard,” Mulvaney said. “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.

    “Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever.”

    Mulvaney said she wants to go back to making people laugh online and to “never stop learning.”

    She said she is trying not to share anything about her life online “before I’m ready.” The advice is an echo of encouragement she received from transgender actor Laverne Cox, who met Mulvaney at the Grammys in February and encouraged her to “keep things for yourself.”

    @dylanmulvaney

    Sharing a magical moment with @lavernecox at the Grammys💓

    ♬ original sound – Dylan Mulvaney

    Mulvaney joked that if reincarnation exists, she would like to be reincarnated as someone “nonconfrontational and uncontroversial.”

    On April 1, Mulvaney partnered with Bud Light as part of a March Madness contest on her Instagram account. The deal, which saw Mulvaney’s face printed on a single signature blue can, sparked numerous calls for LGBTQ2 opposition to destroy their beer stockpiles and potentially boycott the brand entirely.

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    Musician Kid Rock was among the most notable to criticize Bud Light for the partnership. In video posted to social media, Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, repeatedly fired an assault rifle at three cases of Bud Light. As beer bled from the bulleted blue boxes, he flipped off the camera and said, “F— Bud Light and f— Anheuser-Busch. Have a terrific day.”

    Anheuser-Busch, the company that makes Bud Light, released a statement as sales started to decline amid calls for a boycott.

    “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” wrote Bud Light CEO and Anheuser-Busch owner Brendan Whitworth.

    Two Bud Light executives have since taken a leave of absence from the company. Anheuser-Busch has not publicly commented on Mulvaney’s latest TikTok.

    The controversy surrounding Mulvaney and Bud Light comes at a time when the rights of transgender people in the U.S. are being called into question. Republican lawmakers across the country have filed legislation seeking to restrict gender-affirming health care for trans folks, among other things. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, there are currently 469 proposed anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S.

    “While not all of these bills will become law, they all cause harm for LGBTQ people,” the organization wrote.

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    &copy 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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    Sarah Do Couto

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  • Fox News’ Pete Hegseth Owns Up To Bud Light Boycott Gone Wrong

    Fox News’ Pete Hegseth Owns Up To Bud Light Boycott Gone Wrong

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    Hegseth and his right-wing channel have gone all in on a takedown of Budweiser because it partnered with Mulvaney, a transgender actor who documented her transition on TikTok. In a social media post for Bud Light, Mulvaney promoted the beer during March Madness and poked fun at her lack of sports knowledge. She then showed off a can Bud Light made with her face on it.

    But a conservative uproar generated a Bud boycott and financial consequences for the beer brand. Hegseth, filling in on “Jesse Watters Primetime,” told viewers he was pleased to see the results for himself at a New York Yankees game with colleague Will Cain over the weekend.

    “There was nothing more satisfying than seeing fridges full of untouched Bud Light, normally the best seller,” Hegseth said. “We all drank a local IPA beer instead. So did most everybody else.”

    But then he got hit by reality with the force of an Aaron Judge home run.

    “Now I was gonna make a big deal about this, proud of our stand we took, until ‘Primetime’ producers told me the local beer we were drinking is actually owned by — Anheuser-Busch,” Hegseth said, referring to the Bud Light parent company. “No wonder I feel a little funny today.”

    Hegseth conceded that “we have lost this battle but we can win the war against Big Busch.”

    The company has attempted to ameliorate ale-raising reactionaries with a bland apology and a commercial drowning in hackneyed patriotism. But it looks like Fox News and others will continue foaming at the mouth over a beer company’s small attempt to be more inclusive.

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  • Anheuser-Busch CEO Issues Lukewarm, Flat Statement Amid Dylan Mulvaney Controversy

    Anheuser-Busch CEO Issues Lukewarm, Flat Statement Amid Dylan Mulvaney Controversy

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    Sure, beer is often canned — but statements from beer company executives probably shouldn’t be.

    On Friday, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a decidedly flat and lukewarm message amid a controversy over Bud Light’s recent collaboration with transgender actor Dylan Mulvaney.

    On April 1, Mulvaney had posted a social media video showing off special Bud Light cans featuring her image. An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told HuffPost that the “commemorative can seen in the video was intended as a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”

    Despite this, Mulvaney’s video inspired a lot of Bud Light hate from conservatives. These included the musician Kid Rock, who posted a video of himself shooting cases of the beer, and country music stars John Rich and Travis Tritt, who called for a Bud Light boycott.

    Meanwhile, Budweiser factories nationwide were reportedly the targets of bomb threats this week.

    Whitworth, who took the helm of Anheuser-Busch in 2021, tried to defuse tensions with Friday’s statement, which appeared to have anything meaningful massaged out of it.

    “As the CEO of a company founded in America’s heartland more than 165 years ago, I am responsible for ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer we brew,” he wrote, noting Anheuser-Busch’s employment figures and its support for “hard-working Americans.”

    Next, Whitworth touched on why he felt obliged to issue a statement without naming the exact reason for why he was making it.

    “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” he said.

    The former Marine then returned to vague profundities and a bland appeal to patriotism.

    “My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect for one another,” Whitworth said.

    “I am focused on building and protecting our remarkable history and heritage,” he added. “I care deeply about this country, this company, our brands and our partners. I spend much of my time traveling across America, listening to and learning from our customers, distributors and others.”

    Whitworth promised to “continue to work tirelessly to bring great beers to consumers across our nation” — presumably by offering more bland, inoffensive statements.

    Whitworth’s message may have appealed to risk-averse Anheuser-Busch shareholders and the corporation’s nervous-Nellie public relations team, but not to anyone else, based on the reaction from Twitter users.

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  • Conservatives Explain Why They’re Boycotting Budweiser

    Conservatives Explain Why They’re Boycotting Budweiser

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    “I boycott any company that tramples on the rights of Americans, whether it’s Bud Light, Walmart, Ford, Tesla, Amazon, McDonald’s, Halliburton, Circle K, basically the entire hotel industry, the vast majority of hospitals, and almost everyone who produces, makes, or distributes food.”

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  • Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light’s backlash response was ‘worse than not hiring a trans person at all’ | CNN Business

    Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light’s backlash response was ‘worse than not hiring a trans person at all’ | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Dylan Mulvaney on Thursday broke her silence about the fallout that occurred after the trans influencer made two Instagram posts sponsored by Bud Light earlier this year.

    Bud Light’s sponsorship of an April 1 Instagram post by Mulvaney set off a firestorm of anti-trans backlash and calls for a boycott. Mulvaney herself also faced a wave of hate and violent threats.

    Now, in a video posted to Instagram Thursday, Mulvaney is calling on Bud Light and other companies not only to work with trans and other queer influencers, but to support them through the process, even as trans rights are under fire across the country and corporations face anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns.

    Mulvaney said she has “been scared to leave my house, and I have been ridiculed in public, I have been followed,” and she criticized Bud Light for not standing by her and the partnership. She said the company never reached out to her in the wake of the backlash.

    “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. “And the hate doesn’t end with me, it has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community.”

    When the backlash ignited in April, Bud Light first responded with a straightforward explanation of its relationship with social media influencers like Mulvaney. But later it released a vague statement from the CEO that failed to offer support for Mulvaney or the trans community. Bud Light sales dropped in the ensuing weeks, the company lost its top rating from a major LGBTQ+ nonprofit and it placed two marketing executives on leave.

    The controversy over the sponsored posts came as trans rights are under attack. Over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures this year through April 3, according to American Civil Liberties Union, including ones restricting access to gender-affirming care for trans youth. Generally, transgender people are more than four times as likely to be victims of violent crime than cisgender people, according to a study from the UCLA School of Law.

    The Bud Light backlash also coincided with anti-LGBTQ+ campaigns against other big brands, including Target.

    Mulvaney’s statement followed a Wednesday appearance by Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Bud Light owner Anheuser-Busch, on CBS Mornings, in which he repeated the company’s recent statements about wanting to “focus on what we do best, which is brewing great beer for everyone,” and did not directly answer a question about whether the campaign was a mistake.

    “I think the conversation surrounding Bud Light has moved away from beer, and the conversation has become divisive, and Bud Light really does not belong there, Bud Light should be about bringing people together,” Whitworth said.

    In her video, Mulvaney appeared to address that sentiment, saying, “supporting trans people, it shouldn’t be political.”

    “There should be nothing controversial or divisive about working with us, and I know it’s possible because I’ve worked with some fantastic companies who care,” Mulvaney said. “But caring about the LGBTQ+ community requires a lot more than just a donation somewhere during Pride month.”

    She added: “We’re customers, too, I know a lot of trans and queer people who love beer.”

    In a statement responding to Mulvaney’s video, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that, “we remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. The privacy and safety of our employees and our partners is always our top priority. As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers.”

    –CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report.

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