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Country star Travis Tritt boycotts Anheuser-Busch beers over company’s trans influencer partnership

Conservative consumers have boycotted the conglomerate over Bud Light’s partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney

Tom Murray
Thursday 06 April 2023 23:47 BST
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Dylan Mulvaney announces 'March Madness' brand partnership with Bud Light

Country artist Travis Tritt has become the latest right-wing musician to denounce Anheuser-Busch products after the world’s largest brewing company partnered with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

On Sunday (2 April), Mulvaney shared a sponsored post on her Instagram account promoting Bud Light’s March Madness contest, prompting anti-trans backlash.

Scores of videos have been shared on social media showing conservative consumers pouring drinks owned by the company, including Budweiser and Michelob, away or smashing them up.

On Wednesday, Tritt shared a string of tweets in support of the Anheuser-Busch boycott.

“I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same,” the “It’s A Great Day To Be Alive” singer wrote.

“Other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and cancelled. I have no such fear,” he added in a second tweet.

He added: “In full disclosure, I was on a tour sponsored by Budweiser in the 90’s. That was when Anheuser-Busch was American owned. A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame.”

The musician also shared marketing material from Jack Daniel’s Drag Queen Summer Camp campaign featuring stars of RuPaul's Drag Race with the caption: “All the @JackDaniels_US drinkers should take note.”

Tritt’s pledge comes after fellow Republican musician Kid Rock posted a bizarre video of himself shooting three cases of Bud Light with an assault rifle, declaring: “f*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch.” The “All Summer Long” star was wearing a “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) hat in the video.

Responding to the backlash, a spokesperson for the beer conglomerate told NBC News: “Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.”

In 2021, Tritt was mocked for cancelling concerts at venues that required audiences to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“This is trying to shame people. This is trying to basically discriminate against people that they don’t feel are clean enough to be part of enjoying a concert like that,” he told Fox News host Tucker Carlson at the time.

Tritt is a Grammy Award-winning country musician who has seven platinum-selling albums. He has been a vocal supporter of former presidents George W Bush and Donald Trump.

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