Celebrities Who’ve Spoken Out Against Target Amid Boycott Calls

Target is one of the latest companies to have received backlash and boycott calls from a number of conservative figures, amid pushback over its recently released range of clothing and accessories for LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

Videos have been shared on social media showing items from the retailer’s collection. One clip showed a T-shirt with the slogan “trans people will always exist” and a babygrow featuring the words “bien proud” in the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag. It also included a rainbow neck pillow, multi-colored fairy lights as well as a trans flag.

There have also been photos that have been shared online of bathing suits sold at Target that include “tuck-friendly” tailoring and “extra crotch coverage” to accommodate a wider customer base.

However, Target’s collection for Pride Month—which takes place every June—has provoked outrage on social media, with calls for the retailer to receive “the Bud Light treatment.”

Beer brand Bud Light has been embroiled in controversy since the beginning of April, after it sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to celebrate her first year of transitioning to a woman. The move sparked calls for a boycott, and industry data shows sales of Bud Light declined more than 17 percent across the month.

The companies, along with other brands that include Adidas and Nike, have faced boycott calls in the wave of right-wing condemnation as conservatives accuse companies of alienating their customer base by working with the LGBTQ+ community.

A host of well-known conservative voices have spoken out against Target in recent days, including comedian Chrissie Mayr, who posted photos on Twitter of the company’s swimsuits incorporating tailoring for tucking.

“Thanks to @Target I found the perfect swimsuit for creeping out all the women and children at the pool this summer,” she captioned the images. “Can’t wait to tuck my c*** into this little number while sipping a Bud Light!”

Broadcaster Megyn Kelly reacted to a post with a statement of her own.

“No woman needs to tuck anything,” tweeted the former Fox News host. “We have vaginas & we are the only ones who do. Oh and we don’t need our kids seeing this sh&% when we walk down the aisle at Target.”

Fellow broadcaster Tomi Lahren, who last week claimed that “mass layoffs” are on the horizon at Bud Light due to the ongoing fallout, also weighed in on Target.

“Target has gone full woke and it’s repugnant,” Lahren wrote. “Newsflash 98% of your customers are shopping at @Target for toilet paper and mascara, not trans chest binders and whatever other weird s*** you are now virtue signaling this summer. Weird times.”

“I cannot state enough how important is for people to choose not to shop at Target,” said Candace Owens in a recent Twitter post. “There has never been a company that has been more pro-transgenderism than Target. Shop anywhere else.”

Meanwhile, fellow conservative commentator Steven Crowder posted a clip from his show, Louder with Crowder, in which he called Target’s “tuck-friendly” bathing suits a “bulge-hiding bathing suit for a child.”

Sharing the clip with his 2 million Twitter followers, Crowder simply wrote: “Boycott Target.”

Despite the furor among conservatives, a number of other Twitter users have expressed appreciation for Target’s new range, including one who stated that chest binders are “actually making a difference for queer youth.”

Another Twitter user wrote that the “Target pride collection gets better every year,” while another said of a onesie with “gay” written on the back: “Losing my mind over this piece of clothing from Target’s pride collection.”

Newsweek has contacted Target via email for comment.

Several brands have been the target of condemnation from conservatives over marketing advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. While experts have said such campaigns provide an opportunity for brands to appeal to consumers in new markets, critics have accused companies of alienating their traditional customer base.

Target has produced a range of items for Pride Month for a decade, according to the Daily Mail. As well as sponsoring a number of Pride events, Bud Light is among the five of America’s 10 most popular beers to have LGBTQ+ partnerships.

The two are not the only brands to have recently faced boycott calls over pro-LGBTQ+ marketing. In April, whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s caused outrage after teaming up with three drag queens for a Pride Month promotion—despite the campaign being nearly two years old.

Prior to that, chocolate makers Hershey’s faced a similar response to an advertising campaign in February after including a transgender rights activist’s face on special chocolate bar wrappers in Canada for International Women’s Day.

Meanwhile, Miller Lite has recently faced calls by conservatives for the brand to be boycotted over its two-month-old commercial, which highlights the historical role that women played in beer brewing.