Dylan Mulvaney earned mockery online after the Tikok star failed to fill a room during a speaking event at Penn State on Tuesday evening.
Mulvaney appeared at Penn State at the invitation of the Student Programming Association (SPA). Mulvaney’s speaking fee is typically $40,000, though it’s unclear if Mulvaney and the SPA worked out a cheaper rate for the event. The event was funded with student fees, according to The Daily Mail.
A photo, taken and shared by the Young America’s Foundation, of the auditorium that held the event showed a sparse crowd with row upon row of empty seats.
Daily Wire host Michael Knowles shared the photo, saying, “It’s so brutal I don’t even want to mock him for it. To quote Robert Frost, ‘Hell is a half-filled auditorium.’”
It’s so brutal I don’t even want to mock him for it. To quote Robert Frost, “Hell is a half-filled auditorium.” https://t.co/bQ6Wy8npJQ
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) December 6, 2023
“We were accused by some on the Right of helping Mulvaney by ‘making him famous.’ But in fact we made sure his brand was viewed as it really is: toxic, embarrassing and ridiculous. Now he can’t draw a crowd and he’s radioactive to companies that associate with him. Total victory,” Daily Wire host Matt Walsh posted on X.
We were accused by some on the Right of helping Mulvaney by “making him famous.” But in fact we made sure his brand was viewed as it really is: toxic, embarrassing and ridiculous. Now he can’t draw a crowd and he’s radioactive to companies that associate with him. Total victory. https://t.co/imJQHAKqgt
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) December 6, 2023
Breitbart columnist John Nolte joked that “the seats identify as full and enthused.”
The seats identify as full and enthused. https://t.co/RIVMRmwXwB
— John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte (@NolteNC) December 6, 2023
Mulvaney, who has pursued a career in acting, has garnered millions of followers on the social media platform Tiktok, an alleged tool of China’s Communist regime that is banned from government devices by dozens of states. Despite Mulvaney’s social media following, Tim Pool, host of the podcast and web show “Timcast,” stated that “Mulvaney is not popular.”
“Mulvaney is propped up by social media algorithms and gawkers who want to see a carnival side show,” Pool said, sharing the photo of the mostly-empty auditorium. “This person is suffering but being egged on by a mob of psychos cheering as Mulvaney destroys himself.”
Mulvaney is not popular
Mulvaney is propped up by social media algorithms and gawkers who want to see a carnival side show
This person is suffering but being egged on by a mob of psychos cheering as Mulvaney destroys himself https://t.co/kTJC1T3lTi
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) December 6, 2023
During Tuesday evening’s event, Mulvaney spoke about his experience “transitioning” as well as the time he endorsed Bud Light, prompting a mass exodus of consumers away from the beer brand, according to Penn State’s Daily Collegian.
Mulvaney called the Bud Light controversy “beergate” and said it contributed to “a hard six months” for the entertainer. Mulvaney accused Bud Light for taking advantage of him, saying, “I realized that these companies were capitalizing on my identity and transness in a way that was really ugly.”