Conservatives are are boycotting Dove after the brand hired a Black Lives Matter activist who destroyed the life of a fellow UVA student over remarks she later admitted to mishearing.
Zyahna Bryant is flying high with a new partnership with Dove to promote “fat liberation,” but her past crusade to get a white female student expelled from the University of Virginia has #BoycottDove trending on X, formerly Twitter.
“This woman put another UVA student through hell, and it was all a woke lie. Shame on Dove for hiring her,” one person posted. “Worse than Dylan Mulvaney.”
“I already ditched Dove when they used dudes to promote women’s products,” someone else added. “After this, we’re never ever getting back together.”
Dove teamed up with this fat liberation activist after she staged a hate hoax at UVA that got a white student expelled. Now she claims to be marginalized while in reality she has all the power. pic.twitter.com/KiK7rmd8hm
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) September 14, 2023
The incident occurred in July 2020, when Bryant overheard the student, Morgan Bettinger, allegedly making threats towards Black Lives Matter protesters.
Bryant claimed that Bettinger used the phrase ‘good f**king speed bumps’ while describing the protestors, sparking liberal outrage.
During the George Floyd protests, when Bettinger unintentionally drove into an area where protesters had gathered.
She allegedly made a comment to a truck driver blocking her way, stating that it was fortunate that he was present, as otherwise the protestors may have become ‘speed bumps’.
Bryant’s accusations quickly gained attention and the revelation that Bettinger had a pro-police stance, combined with her late father’s career as a police officer, further fueled the controversy.
In response to Bryant’s calls for punishment and expulsion, Bettinger faced backlash from both staff and students at UVA.
Bryant initiated an email campaign to have Bettinger expelled, alleging that UVA should not allow racists to graduate.
As a result of the incident and subsequent controversy, Bettinger found herself ostracized at college and even faced harassment in her hometown, leading to concerns for her safety.
UVA’s Judiciary Committee ultimately found Bettinger guilty of making a legitimate threat, despite being unable to substantiate Bryant’s claim about her intentions.
The committee argued that even using the words in a harmless manner during the anti-racism protests warranted punishment.
However, Bryant later admitted that she may have misunderstood or ‘misheard’ Bettinger’s remarks after spearheading the campaign to destroy her.
The investigation conducted by EOCR concluded that three out of five accusations against Bettinger could not be substantiated and eyewitnesses were unable to corroborate Bryant’s version of events.
Despite EOCR’s findings, the Judiciary Committee’s decision still remains on Bryant’s permanent record, impacting her aspirations of pursuing law school.
While Bettinger is considering suing UVA, Bryant is cashing in by campaigning for “size freedom.”
“Fat liberation is something we should all be talking about! That’s why I am partnering with Dove,” she captioned an Instagram video at the end of August.
“My belief is that we should be centering the voices and experiences of the most marginalized people and communities at all times,” Bryant said.
“So when I think about what fat liberation looks like to me, it looks like centering the voices and the experiences of those who live in and who maneuver through spaces and institutions in a fat body,” she went on.
“It looks like making accessible spaces and having conversations that are aware of the fact that people have different bodies and that they are interacting with space and people and institutions and communities in a different way,” Byant detailed
“Fat liberation looks like fully embracing those differences and having those conversations instead of shying away from them,” she concluded.
Plenty of commenters on the internet were not thrilled about the campaign, or Bryant’s involvement.
“Appears to me she has already successfully liberated fat for sure,” someone sniped. “Time to quit using though if this is the end result.”
“#BoycottDove for hiring this hideous & racist activist,” added another. “And tell Dove that #sizefreedom equals #diabetes and other [health] woes.”