Caitlyn Jenner has blasted "woke" Nike over their partnership with trans model Dylan Mulvaney.
The 73-year-old reality star - who was an Olympic gold-winning athlete before transitioning - hit out at the brand for "trying to erase women" with their efforts to promote "inclusivity" as she objected to the TikTok star's video, who identifies as female but was born male and has not had reassignment surgery, in which she announced her partnership by dancing in a sports bra.
Jenner tweeted "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.
"EQUALITY INCLUSIVITY (STOP TRYING TO ERASE WOMEN). The differences between men and women are real and are a good thing! It doesn’t make trans ppl a bad thing, either. Why is it so black and white with the RADICAL RAINBOW MAFIA?!(sic)"
Jenner previously modelled female sportswear in 2016 when she was a face of H+M's H+M Sport collection, and she has offered "a little context" to her complaint when fans pointed out the contradiction, explaining she was upset that seven-time Olympic gold winner Allyson Felix had previously claimed Nike had offered her a 70% pay cut and denied her request for maternity protections in 2017, leading to her letting her contract expire and signing with another brand.
She tweeted: "A little context…I did a collab with H+M (I have done many athletic brand collabs over the years as a successful athlete).
A little context…I did a collab with H&M (I have done many athletic brand collabs over the years as a successful athlete). I don’t blame Dylan (smart move💰). I did not like how Nike treated Allyson Felix when she became pregnant. I spoke on the outrage of disparity in their pay https://t.co/U3fMaMM3td
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) April 7, 2023
"I don't blame Dylan (smart move). I did not like how Nike treated Allyson Felix when she became pregnant. I spoke on the outrage of disparity in their pay."
Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies - who has repeatedly spoken out in support of keeping sports single sex - has also branded Nike's campaign "frustrating" and urged people to boycott the company to take a stand against the “disdain that women are being treated with.”
She told GB News: “It’s so frustrating. We take two steps forward with World Athletics and Swim England protecting women’s sport and then Nike does this.
“The ad feels like a parody of what women are. In the past it was always seen as an insult to say, ‘run like a girl’ and here we’ve got someone behaving in a way that’s very un-sporty and very unathletic and it’s so frustrating when only one per cent of USA sponsorship dollar goes to females in sport. That Nike would do this feels like a kick in the teeth.
“We can protest. It’s what is left for us at the moment. No one seems to be listening.
“The only way we can make these companies and governments sit up and listen is to boycott with our wallet.
“It’s the only thing they listen to.
“Dylan is advertising sports bras when there’s nothing to put in the sports bra - when actually it’s really important women get proper support when they do sport. It just doesn’t make sense.
“Women are being treated with total disdain at the moment, particularly in the world of sport where physiology makes so much difference.”