In a recent episode of the Spotify podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Joe Rogan once again targeted trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, referring to her as “mentally ill” and an “attention” seeking.
The controversial comments came to light after Mulvaney spoke out about the Bud Light boycott on her social media accounts, blaming the company for not sticking by her following their sales plummeting.
During the podcast, Rogan engaged in a two-and-a-half-hour conversation with rapper-actor Ice Cube, and the discussion eventually touched upon the Bud Light controversy. Rogan expressed that corporations only respect public opinions when boycotts are successful, citing the decline in Bud Light sales since Mulvaney’s endorsement on April 1.
“Take a brand like Bud Light,” Rogan said. “It’s for blue-collar drinking people and they like to watch football and drink Bud Light and then all of a sudden you have this mentally ill person who’s just an attention wh**e.”
Rogan added: “Once Kid Rock shoots your cans, you’ve got real problems,”.
However, Mulvaney has not remained silent amid the backlash and expressed feeling loneliness and lack of support from Anheuser-Busch after the failed campaign.
“What transpired from that video was more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined,” Ms. Mulvaney, 26, said. “I’ve been followed, and I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
“I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did,” she said. “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.”
Anheuser-Busch responded to Mulvaney’s claims, stating their commitment to supporting various communities, including the LGBTQ+ community. Despite the company’s stance, Rogan continued to criticize Bud Light’s involvement in sponsoring the Toronto Pride event, dismissing it as “silly.”
The conversation between Rogan and Ice Cube then shifted to Target, another company that faced boycott calls over its Pride-themed merchandise. Rogan attributed Target’s losses to the controversial nature of such social issues being forced upon consumers.
Last month, Rogan already expressed disapproval of Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney, mocking the idea of sending cans with her face on them to a “confused person” and attributing a $20 billion loss to the company. This is a departure from his previous take in which he called the boycott silly.