Garth Brooks has said his new bar in Tennessee will stock “every brand of beer” – despite the ongoing backlash against Bud Light.
The 61-year-old country singer’s statement comes as a handful of musicians and other celebrities have boycotted the brand, which just lost its spot as the best-selling beer in the US.
Bud Light has had its fair share of controversy over the past few months, having received immense backlash from Conservative Americans after sending 26-year-old transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney a personalized can of its product.
Mulvaney then took her Instagram on April 1 to share a promotional video of her drinking the beer while dressed up as Audrey Hepburn.
The ad was also to promote its March Madness competition, which happened to fall around the same time as Mulvaney celebrating her first year of being a woman since transitioning.
Musicians like Kid Rock hit out at the brand, with the ‘All Summer Long’ singer going viral after posting a video on Twitter of himself shooting his rifle at crates of Bud Light (although, he never mentioned Mulvaney’s name or the partnership in his post).
In addition to this, Travis Tritt also took to the social media platform to tweet that he was boycotting the Anheuser-Busch product following the Mulvaney-Bud Light partnership. “I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same,” he wrote.
However, Brooks doesn’t appear to have followed suit, revealing in a recent interview with Billboard that he will be stocking all beer brands in his downtown Nashville bar, The Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk.
“I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another.
“And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. We just are. It’s not our decision to make,” he told the outlet. “Our thing is this: If you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you’re an a**hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.”
Unsurprisingly, the news was met with a divided opinion on social media, with one Twitter user encouraging others to boycott the upcoming bar. “If you live in Tennessee, I recommend you never go to [Garth Brooks] new bar. They’re going to sell BudLight and apparently he thinks we’re ‘a**holes’ if we don’t like it. Make sure all your friends know that,” they wrote.
Other users didn’t necessarily agree.
“Lol at people upset that Garth Brooks won’t join in their anti-LGBTQ Bud Light boycott clearly don’t remember him singing that we shall be free ‘when we’re free to love anyone we choose’ 31 years ago. And then performing it with rainbow stage lights a few years back,” someone tweeted.
If you live in Tennessee, I recommend you never go to @garthbrooks new bar. They’re going to sell BudLight and apparently he thinks we’re "assholes" if we don’t like it. Make sure all your friends know that. 😉 pic.twitter.com/IzFSWSfdT3
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) June 10, 2023
Lol at people upset that Garth Brooks won’t join in their anti-LGBTQ Bud Light boycott clearly don’t remember him singing that we shall be free “when we’re free to love anyone we choose” 31 years ago. And then performing it with rainbow stage lights a few years back. pic.twitter.com/qL7r56wRbf
— Josh, the Love Pirate (@lovepirate77) June 9, 2023
Sadly, the backlash allowed for a rival beer brand Modelo Especial to take the number one spot as America’s best-selling brand.
