A distressed Lady Gaga on Monday attacked what she defined as “hatred” littering responses to her posing with Dylan Mulvaney, a man pretending to be a woman, in a picture released to mark International Women’s Day (IWD).
The original picture was shared by Mulvaney as part of IWD celebrations on Friday but was taken on 29 February at a Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals event for its Photomedicine Foundation, as Breitbart News reported.
There was no shortage of criticism turning on the pair appearing on Mulvaney’s Instagram post, some questioning Mulvaney’s judgement and even Lady Gaga, who was born a woman, was placed in the category of “men” by critics.
Gaga has since reposted the image with a lengthy message of rebuke, telling critics to back off.
“It’s appalling to me [that Dylan’s post] would be met with such vitriol and hatred. When I see a newspaper reporting on hatred but calling it ‘backlash,’ I feel it is important to clarify that hatred is hatred, and this kind of hatred is violence,” Gaga 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.”
The “Born This Way” singer also deplored media framing of the comments adding that “hatred is violence.”
The post has since received over one million likes and over 24,000 comments.
Mulvaney has been a controversial figure since he became famous on the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok in 2022, documenting his so-called gender transition by numbering his “days of girlhood.”
Dylan Mulvaney attends NYC Pride Weekend with Motorola Razr on June 26, 2022, in New York City. (Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Motorola Razr)
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris quickly celebrated him as a “brave” activist.
The “trans” social media star soon began to monetize his influencer status with pricey speaking engagements and brand sponsorships.
One of those ads — a Bud Light partnership where Mulvaney plugged Anheuser Busch’s flagship beer and received a custom beer can emblazoned with his face — became a fateful mistake for the company.
An ensuing boycott is estimated to have cost Anheuser Busch $1.4 billion, dethroning Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the Unite States.
Despite the public headwinds, Mulvaney continues to be the toast of Hollywood’s elite, just like Lady Gaga.
In August of 2023, he was the guest of honor at a party hosted by comedian Kathy Griffin — rubbing elbows with pop singer Sia, actress Rosie O’Donnell, and journalist Taylor Lorenz, among others.