Travis Tritt Bans Bud Light From His Tour—Says Other Artists Doing the Same

Country music singer Travis Tritt won’t drink any beverages made by Anheuser-Busch on his current national tour.

Tritt made the announcement on Twitter after one of the American brewing company’s brands sent a gift to a transgender influencer.

Bud Light sent TikToker Dylan Mulvaney a commemorative can of beer with her face on it to mark the one-year anniversary of her gender transition.

Travis Tritt performs during the Barnstable Brown Derby Eve Gala on May 03, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. The singer said he would no longer stock beers made by Anheuser-Busch on his tour rider. Stephen J. Cohen/WireImage

A swift backlash following Mulvaney’s unveiling of the unique can came from social media users, conservative commentators and even musician Kid Rock, who shot up several cases of Bud Light in a video he posted to Twitter and Instagram.

The backlash has tied into a wider debate about transgender people and their inclusion in cis gendered spaces, with some supporting transgender people, but others not recognizing their gender transition. It also comes at a time of hundreds of proposed policies in states around the country to curb transgender rights, including access to health care.

Tritt revealed he would no longer request any Anheuser-Busch products on his tour rider, which is a document with a list of requirements provided by artists when performing, including food, drinks, room setup and any other needs they may have for them and their entourage.

“I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same,” he tweeted.

Newsweek has asked Anheuser-Busch—which is part of AB InBev, the world’s biggest brewer—for comment by email.

A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch told Newsweek on Monday that the company “works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney.”

The spokesperson added that the commemorative can “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”

Some people in Tritt’s replies agreed with his stance and congratulated him on his decision.

“Somebody needs to post the list of all related Bud products. It’s amazing and surprising,” one fan wrote, to which Tritt replied with a screenshot of the different drinks produced by the company in the U.S.

And legislative adviser Sam Ditzhazy told Tritt: “Thank you for saying no and putting your foot down. We all just have to tell these companies NO.”

But other social media users poked fun at the country singer.

“Getting paid in drink tickets isn’t a rider,” replied comedy writer Mike Scollins.

TV writer Erin Ryan wrote: “damn how much s***** beer were you drinking before shows my dude.”

While executive director Jess Piper touched on a sensitive subject for Tritt by asking him: “Who are you?”

Tritt went on a blocking spree of celebrities and other high profile figures in 2021 because he wanted to silence voices with different opinions to his, but many of those he blocked claimed they had never even heard of him before he blocked them.

In 2020, “The Whiskey Ain’t Workin'” singer Tritt said he was inspired by actor James Woods’ social media tactic of mass blocking accounts on Twitter of people he didn’t agree with.

“Reminder: block any twenty accounts a day that have the hashtag ‘resist’ in their profile,” Woods, tweeted in September that year. “It slows them down and offsets Twitter’s shadow-banning of conservative accounts.”

Tritt later tweeted: “Per my friend @RealJamesWoods, type #resist in your Twitter search bar. Block at least twenty of these accounts per day. We will soon make them as irrelevant as they have tried to make the rest of us.”

Anheuser-Busch isn’t the only brand Tritt has taken aim at and recently spoke out against Jack Daniels after the whiskey brand partnered with drag queens from Ru Paul’s Drag Race, even though the campaign was two years old.

He tweeted that people “should take note” of the brand and shared photos of the old campaign.