Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) CEO Dana White is known as a hard-hitting coarse conservative who does not mince words.
The former fighter and now point person for the UFC shared his thoughts on recent events with comedian Theo Von during Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast.
White has come under fire in recent weeks after entering into a $100 million contract with Bud Light. The company is desperate to renew the brand name and win back customers after contracting with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney to serve as a spokesperson.
Many believe the new and mutually beneficial partnership between UFC and Bud Light was a shrewd marketing move.
Bud Light was widely scorned and boycotted over the summer after their parent company, Anheuser-Busch, elected to have transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney serve as their spokesperson.
That decision cost Anheuser-Busch billions in revenue.
During his interview with Von, the comedian shared that he appreciated the pressure White had been under after securing the unpopular contract with Bud Light and knew what it was like to make unpopular decisions.
Von recalled that when he hosted Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his podcast, multiple companies balked and demanded their promotional pieces not appear on the episode. Others, he said, demanded the episode be removed.
White said in times of crisis, “You find out who everybody really is, including some of your sponsors.”
White added that he received similar pushback after he had praised Trump while noting that he viewed Kennedy as an “old school Democrat” with “common sense.”
As the discussion lingered on how fierce criticism on many subjects and business boycotts is infringing on free speech, White said: “I posted a video for Trump, on my personal social media, and one of our big sponsors called and said, ‘Take that down.’”
With an economy of words, White replied, “Go f— yourself.”
Von added: “You vote for whoever you want to vote for, and I’ll vote for whoever I want to vote for. That’s how this works. I don’t even care who you’re voting for. It’s none of my … business.”
Von responded: “A lot of people feeling in fear these days, you know? A lot of people feeling in fear that if they don’t vote for certain people, they’re going to lose their jobs.”
In a bold move, Von then turned directly to the camera and addressed his sponsors: “Well, I’m gonna tell my sponsors right now, if you don’t like what I … have on [my show,] I’ll tell you exactly what I’ll do: I’ll end my deals, and I’ll just sell direct to consumer for a lower price.”
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