Despite being transgender herself, Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete Caitlyn Jenner has been a staunch opponent of allowing transgender athletes to compete against people of the same sex. Just this week, Jenner established a political action committee called “Fairness First” with that focus in mind.
Jenner seems to have continued that stance and has gone after Nike over the brand’s new partnership with transgender actress and comedian Dylan Mulvaney. The TikTok star shared several Instagram posts on Wednesday that were ads for Nike’s latest female sportswear.
Jenner took to Twitter and seemed to take issue with what she claimed to be a “double standard” between the brand’s treatment of Mulvaney and track and field star Allyson Felix after the latter became pregnant in 2018.
“As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke!” Jenner wrote in a tweet on Thursday. “We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage.”
As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke! We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage. https://t.co/VJoLCvTyBt
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) April 6, 2023
Though, the tweet Jenner quoted offered some false claims, like that Felix left Nike to create Athleta — a successful women’s clothing brand. Twitter added context to the tweet stating that “Allyson Felix did not found and does not own Athleta. Athleta was founded by Scott Kerslake in 1996 and sold to Gap, Inc. in 2009. Athleta has sponsored Felix since 2019.”
While Jenner’s issue seems to be with Nike — not Mulvaney — it certainly didn’t come off that way and that wasn’t how it was perceived on social media. Mulvaney has not responded to Jenner’s critical tweet, which went viral on social media.
[Caitlyn Jenner on Twitter]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.