Joe Rogan defends Dylan Mulvaney over Bud Light and Nike backlash
Joe Rogan, who has pushed anti-trans rhetoric on his podcast, said he doesn’t understand the right-wing backlash over trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney’s partnerships with Bud Light and Nike. (YouTube/PowerfulJRE/TikTok/Dylan Mulvaney)
Controversial podcast host Joe Rogan has waded into the drama surrounding trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s Bud Light partnership, saying he doesn’t understand why people are so enraged.
In case you missed out on what’s happened so far, here’s a brief recap.
Mulvaney rose to prominence on social media by documenting her transition as part of her ‘Days of Girlhood’ series, sharing her journey with millions on TikTok and Instagram.
The social media personality experiences immense hatred for being trans, and Mulvaney’s partnerships with Bud Light and Nike have been the source of recent outrage from conservatives and gender-critical voices.
Seeing the backlash online, Rogan took the time to discuss the furore on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The controversial podcast host said he didn’t quite understand the intense anger around the partnership and even suggested the reactions were overblown.
“What they’re [Bud Light] doing is just spreading the brand to an extra group of people,” he said. “Why, if something is good, do you give a f**k who’s got it?”
He continued: “Like, would we do this with cheesecake? Like, you know what I’m saying?
“Like, if there was like a bomb a** cheesecake and all of a sudden, you know, some radical group like Antifa really got into the cheesecake. Would we be like, ‘F**k this’?”
Rogan admitted he found singer Kid Rock’s video shooting bullets at several cases of Bud Light with a gun, which is part of a conservative movement to boycott the beer brand, amusing because he likes “wild people” and “raising hell”.
The podcast host went on to say he thought it was “funny” that people were so outraged about the Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light partnership, given there are more pressing issues happening in the US.
He also pointed out that Nike and other companies are using Mulvaney to market their products, reaching a wider audience through the social media influencers’ following. He questioned why it’s such a “big deal” to “hire a goofy person” like Mulvaney to market their products.
“The thing is like about this Dylan Mulvaney thing is like, it’s just someone who wants a lot of attention,” Rogan said.
“You’re giving that someone a lot of attention, and you’re trying to reach another audience. I saw it and I was like, ‘What the f*** is this?’ My initial reaction is like, ‘This is silly’.”
Joe Rogan appearing to defend Mulvaney doesn’t erase the harm he’s done to the LGBTQ+ community
Rogan has used his podcast to promote conspiracy theories, including that the 6 January insurrection was a false flag operation orchestrated by the FBI, “actual microchips” were being injected into people’s arms to see if they had COVID-19 and that schools were installing litter boxes for students who identify as furries.
Rogan also pushes anti-trans rhetoric and has gender-critical pundits regularly appear on his podcast.
He falsely claimed that being trans is a “cult-like mentality”, a “weird kink” and a “psychiatric condition”. Rogan alleged that trans athletes have an unfair advantage over their cisgender competitors while talking about trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
Joe Rogan agreed with a guest’s rant comparing trans people to QAnon and said that being non-binary is “very self-indulgent”.
He also falsely asserted that trans women “use male tactics and male behaviour as they invade feminist spaces” and “dominate them like men do”.
