‘New Bud Light’: Versace fashion brand blasted for partnering with Dylan Mulvaney

Evidently nobody on the marketing team at Versace drinks Bud Light.

The high-end Italian fashion house was pilloried over the weekend for partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, whose partnership with Anheuser-Busch famously tanked the Bud Light brand in 2023.

Perhaps U.S. consumers will be more enthusiastic about buying high-fashion apparel endorsed by the gender-bending TikTok star, although so far the signs are less than encouraging.

Conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly called Versace “our new Bud Light” after the male-born, female-identifying Mulvaney appeared on TikTok and YouTube wearing a black Versace gown.

“I think this is the best I ever looked, I’m pretty sure,” said the influencer in a video. “Headed to a Versace event, and I think this is it, right?”

In another video, Mulvaney displayed the dress as Madonna’s “Material Girl” played in the background, calling the frock “the one I always pull out when my relationships start to get a little serious.”

“@Versace always makes me so flirty,” said the caption on TikTok.

Mulvaney was also spotted attending a Versace event last week during the Met Gala festivities in New York City.

Comments included “Bold advertising move for sure,” “I guess Versace wasn’t paying attention to the Bud Light Collapse,” and “Why is HE promoting your women’s collection?”

 

 

.@Versace you are our new Bud Lite. https://t.co/mFITOywqZ9

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) May 10, 2025

 

Others made the point that the collaboration is unlikely to result in a Bud Light 2.0 situation, given that that brand marketed itself as an everyman’s beer and indeed was the most popular in the U.S. at the time of the Mulvaney collapse. On the other hand, most American consumers can’t afford Versace’s $4,000 dresses or $500 bikinis.

“Except Megyn, who wears Versace? No one. I think it’s the point,” said one commentator on X. “They did it for the controversy to remind everyone they are still in business as a last ditch effort.”

Indeed, speculation was rampant that Versace may be seeking to generate buzz after the recent drop in the company’s global sales.

“Dylan Mulvaney models women’s Versace Dress after being invited by the brand to attend the launch of their new womenswear collection,” said British commentator Oli London on X. 

“His promotion of the Italian brand comes amid Versace’s dwindling global sales, dropping 15% in global revenue in the last quarter of 2024,” he said.

Mulvaney’s partnership with Bud Light spurred a boycott that saw the brand’s sales fall by as much as 26% and lose its status as America’s number-one-selling beer, falling behind Modelo Especial. The Mexican brand remains the top-selling U.S. beer.