Bulleit Bourbon’s gay heir reveals how her ‘family’s homophobia’ allegedly forced her out

An heir to a whisky fortune has accused her family of homophobia after they allegedly forced her out of the company.

Hollis Bulleit said that her Kentucky-based family, who run Bulleit Bourbon, started excluding her and her partner Cher the moment she came out to them a decade ago.

Bulleit is owned by multi-billion-dollar corporation Diageo, which in December was named as a “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” for the ninth consecutive year by the Human Rights Campaign.

The company earned a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index, a survey on LGBT workplace equality administered by the HRC.

Over the course of two lengthy Facebook posts, the Bulleit daughter known as the first lady of bourbon took a wrecking ball to this perception of the company.

On December 23, two days before Christmas and after 25 years of service, Hollis said she received an email telling her she wasn’t working for Bulleit anymore.

Hollis wrote that since “coming out the closet a decade ago, not one family photo has been taken of me (or with me and Cher) with the core Bulleit family.

“Many events took place at the Bulleit family home with Diageo employees, and no-one ever said a word about what was obviously missing from photographs or the events (Cher and I).

“For the past decade, I have held these secrets; which has only served to exacerbate my suffering.”

She continued: “The times I asked for help I did not receive it and soon thereafter I was out of a job.

• Dec 01

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