Dylan Mulvaney
Forget about the dog days, the “Days of Girlhood” are here! TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney kicked off the week with the release of her debut non-holiday single “Days of Girlhood” (March 11) and followed that up with the unveiling of the track’s official music video on Wednesday (March 13).
“Calling women of all ages / Girls like me gotta learn the basics / Last look, quick change, sip champagne / Playin’ catch up ’cause we missed the pre-game,” she croons over a thumping pop-rock arrangement crafted by Nick Monson. Co-penned by Mulvaney and Skyler Stonestreet, the sugar-sweet pop single finds the influencer exalting the clichés of girlhood and honoring the impactful women in her own life.
Later in the song, which bears its title from that of her viral TikTok vlog series, Mulvaney appears to reference her Bud Light controversy, chanting, “Boys on the dance floor, it’s finally clear / The patriarchy is over, you can hold our beer!”
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The song’s Kajal-helmed music video opens with Mulvaney taking the dreaded “walk of shame” before assembling her girlfriends to start a recovery process that includes bubble baths, glasses of champagne, fun choreography by the swimming pool, and a strong commitment to pink, Barbiecore aesthetic. Several influences appear in the clip, including Gigi Gorgeous Getty, Veondre Mitchell and Loren Grey.
On Tuesday (March 12), Mulvaney shared a lengthy vlog reflecting on her second year of publicly transitioning to her Instagram and TikTok profiles. At the end of her reflections, she highlighted The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQIA+ suicide prevention, saying, “Every time that you stream my song or use it on a social media app, any profits that I make through Pride Month, I will be donating to The Trevor Project.”
Mulvaney’s debut pop single comes a week after Lady Gaga came to her defense. In celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8), Mulvaney shared a photoset of her and Lady Gaga posing together and interacting on the set of a photoshoot. An avalanche of transphobia ensued and on Monday (March 11), the Oscar-winning “Shallow” singer rebuked the vitriolic trolls.
“It’s obvious we still have to do as a society to make room for transgender lives to be cherished and upheld by all of us,” she wrote. “I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence… I hope all women will come together to honor us ALL for International Women’s Day, and may we do that always until THE DAY that all women are celebrated equally.”
While “Days of Girlhood” marks Mulvaney’s first proper pop single, it is not her first musical release. Last year (Dec. 15, 2023) she released a gloomy holiday single titled “Blue Christmas.”
Listen to “Days of Girlhood” and watch the music video above.
If you come for one of Lady Gaga‘s Little Monsters, then she’s going to bring her claws out. A few online trolls found that out the hard way on Monday (March 11) when Gaga shared a lengthy retaliation against critics of Dylan Mulvaney.
In an Instagram post, Gaga — who recently posed for a photo with the transgender influencer in honor of International Women’s Day — called out a wave of commenters who flooded Mulvaney’s post with anti-trans rhetoric. “It’s appalling to me that a post about [International] Women’s Day by Dylan Mulvaney and me would be met with such vitriol and hatred,” she wrote.
The “Born This Way” singer went on to share that news outlets shouldn’t be calling the transphobic response to Mulvaney a “backlash,” and instead refer to it for what it is: “Hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence,” she wrote. “‘Backlash’ would imply that people who love or respect Dylan and me didn’t like something we did. This is not backlash. This is hatred.”
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This isn’t the first time Mulvaney has found herself in the eye of an anti-trans publicity storm. Following a promotion she did with Bud Light in 2023, both the influencer and the brand received a massive influx of hatred, resulting in a boycott of Bud Light led by artists such as Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and others. Mulvaney later criticized the beer brand for turning “a blind eye” to the vitriol she received from their promotional clip. “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,” she said.
In her post, Gaga took the opportunity to speak about the “immense work” that still needs doing when it comes to transgender acceptance around the world. “I feel very protective in this moment, not only of Dylan, but of the trans community who continues to lead the way with their endless grace and inspiration in the face of constant degradation, intolerance, and physical, verbal, and mental violence,” she wrote. “I certainly do not speak for this community, but I have something to say. I hope all women will come together to honor us ALL for International Women’s Day, and may we do that always until THE DAY that all women are celebrated equally.”
Closing out her post, Gaga urged her audience to “honor the complexity and challenge of trans life,” and once again reminded people to use the proper phrasing when speaking about transphobic speech. “I love people too much to allow hatred to be referred to as ‘backlash.’ People deserve better.”
Check out Gaga’s full Instagram post here.
Kid Rock has decided to support Bud Light again, eight months after his transphobic response to trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teaming up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest.
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“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,” the singer shared in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson. “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.”
He added, “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. I would like to see us back on board and become bigger because that’s the America that I want to live in.”
Rock concluded by noting, “There’s nothing wrong with giving a spanking. You don’t spank them for the rest of their life.”
In April, Rock posted a video to his social media accounts wearing a white MAGA hat. “Grandpa’s feeling a bit frisky today,” he shared, adding that he wants to make his message as “clear and concise as possible.” He then shot a semi-automatic rifle at three cases of Bud Light, telling the camera, “F— Bud Light, and f— Anheuser-Busch.”
At the time, in a statement received by Billboard, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said, “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
In July, CNN reported that Kid Rock was still selling Bud Light at his Nashville restaurant. In August, he was pictured enjoying aBud Light at Colt Ford show in Nashville, according to TMZ.
Country stars Zach Bryan and Travis Tritt had a public Twitter spat last week over Bud Light teaming with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney for its latest campaign, and now the duo seem to be on good terms.
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It all started when the “Something in Orange” singer tweeted on April 8, “I mean no disrespect towards anyone specifically, I don’t even mind @travistritt. I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be It’s a great day to be alive I thought.”
The thoughts were seemingly in response to Tritt announcing he would no longer be working with Anheuser-Busch and removing all of the company’s products from his tour hospitality rider. “I know many other artists who are doing the same,” the singer claimed.
While Tritt didn’t respond publicly to Bryan’s thoughts, he took to Twitter to try to get the young country star to meet with him in person. “Zach, Been trying to reach out to you through your manager,” he wrote on April 13. “Since we are both playing the Two Step Inn Festival in Georgetown, TX this Saturday, I was hoping we could chat in person. I will be there all day on Saturday. Please let me know if we can chat. Thanks.”
a.@zachlanebryan Zach, Been trying to reach out to you through your manager. Since we are both playing the Two Step Inn Festival in Georgetown, TX this Saturday, I was hoping we could chat in person. I will be there all day on Saturday. Please let me know if we can chat. Thanks.— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 14, 2023
It appears that the duo did in fact meet in person at the festival, as Bryan revealed to fans that they talked “eye to eye” for “an hour and a half,” and noted while they do disagree on certain things, “the world did not end.”
Tritt then replied to Bryan’s tweet in support, writing, “So glad we had a chance to chat, Zach. Even better to discover that we have so much common ground. All the best to you on your first European tour!”
So glad we had a chance to chat, Zach. Even better to discover that we have so much common ground. All the best to you on your first European tour!— Travis Tritt (@Travistritt) April 16, 2023
Howard Stern is speaking out following Kid Rock and Travis Tritt’s transphobic responses to trans activist Dylan Mulvaney teaming up with Anheuser-Busch to promote the brand’s Easy Carry Contest.
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“I thought there must be a piece of this story that I’m missing,” the host said during his SiriusXM radio show on Monday (April 10). “I’m not bothered by gay people or transsexual people. They don’t impact my life, they don’t hurt my life. I love when people are in love. You wanna be a woman? Be a woman. You wanna be a dude, be a dude. Be whatever you f—ing want. As long as you ain’t hurting anybody, I’m on your team.”
Stern’s thoughts come a week after Rock posted a video to his social media accounts wearing a white MAGA hat. “Grandpa’s feeling a bit frisky today,” he shared, adding that he wants to make his message as “clear and concise as possible.” He then shot a semi-automatic rifle at three cases of Bud Light, telling the camera, “F— Bud Light, and f— Anheuser-Busch.”
Tritt, meanwhile, shared a series of tweets announcing that he would no longer be working with Anheuser-Busch and removing all of the company’s products from his tour hospitality rider. “I know many other artists who are doing the same,” the singer claimed.
“I wish I could call Kid Rock and have him come on the show and just tell me ‘Why are you so upset about this? How is it hurtful?’ I don’t know why he got so upset,” Stern continued. “Kid Rock, I know him. He’s got a great life. He transitioned from some kid in Michigan to a rock superstar! I’m really dumbfounded by why someone would care so much that they would blow up a can of Bud Light and say, ‘F— Anheuser-Busch.’ I don’t get it.”
Stern added that Rock himself is “flamboyant in his own way,” often wearing “a feather boa, maybe a mink coat” to his show when he would join as a guest. “I feel Kid Rock, his songs are all about living life the way you want, ‘I’m doing my thing man and f— you if you’re not with me,” he continued, then turning his thoughts to Tritt. “Travis Tritt’s statement was, ‘Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and canceled. I have no such fear.’ I would like to interview the guy. I’m coming from a place of, ‘Why you care so much?’”
In a statement received by Billboard since the controversy, a Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said, “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
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