Bud Light partners with comic fired for racist, anti-gay comments

Bud Light has come full circle.

The beer brand has gone from making the progressive move of partnering with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney to partnering with a comedian who has been called out for racist and homophobic comments.

That's somewhat shocking because Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) - Get Free Report CEO Michel Doukeris said during his company's second-quarter earnings call that he intended to avoid making political statements.

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"Our consumers across all sentiment groups have three points of feedback in common. One, they want to enjoy their beer without a debate. Two, they want Bud Light to focus on beer. Three, they want Bud Light to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, such as NFL, Fields of Honor, and music," the CEO shared.

After that statement was made, however, the company then immediately became the largest sponsor of UFC, the mixed martial arts group run by Dana White, a friend and supporter of Donald Trump who has done nothing to stop his fighters from going on anti-transgender rants.

Shane Strickland, who was defending UFC's middleweight title at the company's most-recent pay-per-view event, took issue with a reporter from MMA Junkie who identified as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. The reporter also pointed out that Toronto, where the fight was held, has a large LGBTQ+ population.

Strickland, who has made transphobic comments in the past, responded by asking the reporter if he was gay or if he had a son who was gay. He then launched into an aggressive tirade.

"Well then you’re a weak f---ing man," Strickland said. "You’re part of the f---ing problem. You elected Justin Trudeau. When he seized the bank accounts, like you’re just f---ing pathetic. The fact that you have no f---ing backbone and as he shutdown your f---ing country and seized bank accounts, you ask me some stupid s--- like that. Go f--- yourself. Move the f--- on man," the now former champion said,

Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light has a new partner

After Strickland's very political rant, Doukeris did not call for UFC to chastise, suspend, or even fire Strickland. Instead, the company, which supposedly wants to refocus on sports, made no statement.

Now, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand has leaned further into politics by partnering with right-wing comedian Shane Gillis.

Gillis and Bud Light shared the news on their Instagram pages along with photos of Gillis at an Anheuser-Busch brewery.

"Excited to announce partnership with Bud Light #budlightpartner," the comedian posted under a picture of himself at an Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Anheuser-Busch did not return an immediate request for comment.

Gillis would be a controversial choice

While he's not a household name, Gillis became more famous for a job he lost than any job he has had. The comedian was hired in 2019 to join the cast of "Saturday Night Live" along with Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman.

"Just hours later, a video went viral on Twitter in which Gillis mocks Chinese people, using several racial slurs during an episode of his podcast last year. In a now-deleted YouTube video, Gillis and his co-host, Matt McCusker, shared a slew of racist 'jokes' against Chinese-Americans, mocking their accents and culture," CBS News reported.

NBC quickly fired him from the show.

Gillis frequently makes jokes about gay and transgender people in his act.

He has, however, been somewhat of a Bud Light supporter drinking the beer during an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast during the height of the controversy.

Rogan, who has publicly said he understands, but does not support the anger against Bud Light, celebrated Gillis for doing what he wanted. 

"You are very America, you know. This is a strong stance, to really keep buying what you really enjoy despite the obvious controversy that’s gonna come,” he said,

Gillis has not apologized for any of his controversial comments.

Instead, he released a statement calling them "risks" comments that missed their mark. He described himself as a "comedian who pushes boundaries," who would be "happy to apologize to anyone who's actually offended."