The trans TikTok star at centre of Nike storm: How Dylan Mulvaney can command up to £70,000 per sponsored post – but faced criticism over beer and sports advertising deals
- Mulvaney’s popularity on TikTok and Instagram has surged in recent months
- But there has been an increasing backlash after tie-ups with Nike and Tampax
- The influencer, 26, has become polarising figure amid trans and women debates
Signed by US vice-president Kamala Harris, the gold-crest headed letter sent on March 13 was practically a seal of approval from the world’s most powerful office.
It marked 365th day’s of its addressee ‘living authentically’ and was proudly uploaded to social media for everyone to admire.
But less than a month later its recipient, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, 26, has now become one of the trans debate’s most controversial figures.
While no-one could deny anyone’s right to live their life how they wish, massive corporations using the star to promote female products has caused a storm.
Mulvaney – who identifies as a woman – but has not yet had gender reassignment surgery is being used by Nike to promote its women’s sports clothing range.
It has led to condemnation from rights campaigners and athletes – including Caitlynn Jenner – with Sharron Davies saying it felt like a ‘parody’ and comes after similarly controversial deals.
Mulvaney’s popularity on TikTok and Instagram has surged in recent months, meaning the influencer can rake in £40,000 to £70,000 per sponsored post.
In one clip, Mulvaney dresses up as Eloise, a fictional six-year-old girl living at the upscale Plaza Hotel in New York City
The letter from Vice-President Kamala Harris congratulated Mulvaney on ‘living authentically’
The social media star’s profiles – which include the ‘Day of Girlhood’ series – feature the figure dressed in different outfits, including at one point the character Eloise, a fictional literary schoolgirl.
Mulvaney’s Nike posts came days after a Bud Light tie up, which included several pictures and videos of the beer shared to Instagram.
That also triggered a backlash, with some people saying they would no longer drink the beer or buy other products owned by its parent company, Anheuser Busch. Singer Kid Rock even shared an angry video of himself shooting a case of Bud Light with an automatic rifle.
Mulvaney had announced the partnership in a series of videos posted to social media at the weekend to coincide with the NCAA March Madness tournament.
Dylan Mulvaney wearing the sports bra for the new partnership with sports clothes firm Nike
Brands including Maybelline, Ole Henriksen, Kate Spade and Native Deodorant have also paid to be promoted on the star’s socials.
Ultra Beauty, an American beauty chain, featured Mulvaney on their podcast in October last year, which attracted criticism.
The influencer seemed unfazed about it, declaring on TikTok: ‘So apparently I’ve caused a boycott of a very large retail chain simply for being trans which I’m just not really in the mood to address.
Maybe I will eventually but I started making videos on here to spread joy not to be, like, constantly defending myself.’
Mulvaney has also pushed brands like EOS, CeraVe and Crest on her social media profiles
Mulvaney’s recent Instagram stories include a post about the luxurious Plaza Hotel, which overlooks Central Park in New York City and costs up to £1,600 per night for a suite.
Another on showed a Mugler handbag, worth around £1,500, gifted by the designer brand.
As well as providing the freebies for influencers to model and show off, some brands also pay hefty rates for the publicity.
But perhaps the most controversial company to link up with Mulvaney happened in 2021
The TikTokker caused outrage after accepting a PR package from sanitary product makers Tampax.
The star made multiple videos about carrying tampons in her purse, but clarified later they did not use them.
In October Mulvaney was able to meet with the President of the United States Joe Biden as part of a panel of six progressive activists for Now This News.
During the panel the president vowed to protect ‘gender-affirming care,’ saying he does not believe any state should have the right to pass laws limiting access to transgender treatments.
‘As a moral question and as a legal question, I just think it’s wrong,’ he said.
Mulvaney first joined TikTok back in 2020 after a stint playing Elder White in the Book of Mormon on Broadway.
In their first few videos, Mulvaney identified as a gay man before posting in December 2020 a ‘gender reveal video’ in which they said: ‘I’m dropping the ‘He’ and my new pronouns are ‘they, them, theirs.’
Mulvaney continued to identify as ‘nonbinary’ through February of this year, when they posted a video of them receiving a new California driver’s license with their sex listed as ‘X.’
Just one month later, though, Mulvaney released a ‘coming out’ video.
‘Here it goes, I am a girl,’ the video posted March 11 said. ‘I’m a trans woman, my new pronouns are ‘she and they.”
Mulvaney explained in the video that when they were nonbinary, ‘I would often say that I felt less and less like a boy every day.
‘But now I realize it was really every day I was feeling more and more like a girl and I didn’t know that.’
Mulvaney added they were ‘scared and ashamed to be back on the [gender] binary,’ but said that when they were four, the star said to their mother, ‘I’m a girl and God made a mistake.’
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