The question arose when Mulvaney explained how her COVID-era nonbinary journey began:
“I started growing my hair out. I think what nonbinary did for me was it gave me an opportunity to be feminine and release from this kind of toxic idea of gay culture and being attractive to gay men, because that is still a problem that…is quite rampant in the community.”
The shift from twink identity to trans womanhood may be familiar in queer spaces, but for Monica Lewinsky, it was entirely new territory.
Lewinsky hilariously revealed how much of an offline queen she is:
“I’m a loser… Miley Cyrus had to tell me what WAP is.”
If your first guess was something like “Warm Apple Pie,” you’re probably keeping the same internet hours as Monica Lewinsky.
But luckily, Mulvaney stepped in with the perfect definition:
“A twink is like a smallish, feminine gay man, often quite hairless, but unfortunately, I was just so hairy, and I was getting laser hair removal.”
Lewinsky may not have started her day expecting a guided tour through the gay lexicon, but that is exactly where the conversation landed. When Lewinsky asked whether Mulvaney was trying to be a twink at the time, Mulvaney offered a little more nuance.
Mulvaney delivered the hard truth about gay archetypes:
“The thing is, a lot of people don’t want to be twinks, but you are. I was. I was a hairy twink, which is known as an otter sometimes.”
Somehow, Lewinsky already knew what cubs and bears were—not to be confused with furries—but otters and twinks were new additions to her vocabulary.
Mulvaney reflected on masculinity pressures in gay culture:
“Twinks sometimes get the worst of it because I think in gay culture, so many men still really pride themselves on being overly masculine and almost…proving their sort of dominance."
"But also like the way that they can conform to…what society’s idea is of, like, an ideal straight man. They’re also trying to do that for each other and for the world.”
Pre-transition, Mulvaney described herself as “this small, gawky gay kid that still did not feel desired in any way.” Transitioning ultimately helped Mulvaney access a new relationship with desire and confidence.
Mulvaney joked about leaving her “twink era” behind:
“I basically hung up my twink card. And justice for twinks! I will just say that there are many twinks in this world who are not trans women…But it felt so good to kind of hang my twink shoes up.”
Mulvaney is used to making history at this point, but even she seemed amused by the moment when she quipped, “I can’t believe that I get to be the one to tell Monica Lewinsky what a twink is.”
You can watch the viral moment here:
The exchange arrives as Mulvaney continues to make waves onstage as well. In January 2026, it was announced that Mulvaney would join the Broadway cast of Six as Anne Boleyn, the hit musical that reimagines the six wives of King Henry VIII as a pop girl group.
The producers of Six strongly defended the casting, condemning backlash as “bullying” and a “coordinated flood of bigoted comments.” While some critics focused on Mulvaney’s transgender identity, others pointed to her musical theater background and the show’s intentionally modern, subversive take on history.
The moment quickly made its way to social media, where viewers shared their reactions:
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Mulvaney also discussed the 2023 Bud Light controversy—often dubbed “Beergate”—during the podcast appearance. The influencer partnered with the brand after what she described as “a really big bidding war between two big companies.”
The company sent cans featuring Mulvaney’s face to celebrate her “365 Days of Girlhood,” triggering backlash and calls for a boycott from conservative commentators and country music figures. At one point, Lewinsky referenced a viral protest from singer Kid Rock, who filmed himself shooting cases of Bud Light with a rifle while declaring, “F--- Bud Light and f--- Anheuser-Busch!”
Mulvaney described how the controversy spiraled:
“What ended up happening was the far-right media and the powers that be that decided to make that America's biggest problem of the moment, which was, ‘Why is a trans person on a can of beer?’”
The influencer also spoke with President Joe Biden at the White House about transgender rights, visibility that also drew criticism from figures including Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, and Caitlyn Jenner, the Republican transgender woman and former Olympian.
Mulvaney compared the experience to a famous Broadway outsider:
“I think of the villainization of ... I think about the animals in 'Wicked' because it's like they needed a common enemy, and so they're, like, 'OK, great. Trans people.' And then, with me, [it] felt very Elphaba, of here's somebody that had the best of intentions, and then, but they needed that poster child.”
Mulvaney opened up about having to feel smaller even when she’s on Broadway:
Even so, Mulvaney has continued to lean into the spotlight, balancing viral internet moments with broader conversations about identity, visibility, and the often strange ways queer culture enters the mainstream—from explaining LGBTQ slang to Monica Lewinsky to stepping onto the Broadway stage.
TikToker Kiarra Hillman was sitting in the backseat with her young daughter, with very glassy eyes, looking exhausted and deliriously relieved that her daughter was finally going to sleep after "374 days."
As her husband approached their home, Hillman quietly rattled off her plan:
"Okay, she's still asleep. If we pull into that driveway, and her eyes are still closed, everybody listen."
"No doors are opening, nope, no doors are opening, no barking, [and] we will eat our food in here."
"I don't care if we're in here for two hours or three days."
When they parked, it was as if Hillman had said nothing as her husband immediately noisily removed his seatbelt, the sound incredibly loud in the hushed car.
Then he argued that he would not stay in the car and he would not eat in the car, even after his wife promised that it would be fun "like a little picnic."
Instead, he opened and slammed his door and then opened and slammed the front passenger door, likely where the food was located.
Hillman looked increasingly shocked, but she was absolutely defeated when she looked back to her baby, whose eyes were open and quietly watching her.
Hillman appeared ready to sob when she turned and said "hi" to her baby.
Then the camera cut to moments later, when her baby was back to loudly crying. When Hillman's husband came back to the car to get more stuff, he asked her if she woke the baby, earning him a glare.
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were furious on Hillman's behalf.
After Hillman's thoughtful list of things they weren't going to do to wake the baby, followed immediately with her husband's clumsy unbuckling of his seatbelt and slamming not one but two car doors, they were certain he was trying to wake the baby on purpose.
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The angry comments just kept pouring in, certain that the husband must hate his wife and child, and calling for Hillman to get a divorce.
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After the video went viral and she received thousands of comments calling for divorce, Hillman posted a video featuring a montage of happy moments and a lengthy caption defending her marriage.
The caption read:
"This week, I was told, 'Divorce him. Leave him now. He hates you.'"
"A video I posted went viral, and it landed on the wrong side of the internet. What was meant to be a lighthearted, relatable parenting moment that we found humor in was completely misinterpreted. Assumptions were made that couldn't have been further from the truth."
"Based on a two-minute video meant to be funny, thousands of comments suddenly appeared about how awful of a man my husband supposedly is. That he hates me. Doesn't respect me. Is a terrible father. And worse."
"I've been doing this social media thing for a while now. I'm used to the chaos of the internet and the absolutely absurd things people say, things that are blatantly wrong, wildly off base, and flat-out lies. People hating me has always felt like part of the territory."
"But having people attack my husband immediately put me into defense mode."
"Every part of me wanted to get online and let everyone have it."
"But the man I'm married to, who is clearly more level-headed than me, reminded me that two wrongs don't make a right. And he's right."
"Still, I couldn't just sit back without saying something. Not to argue. Not to convince people who have already made up their minds."
"I know I can't change the minds of people who look for fault everywhere but within themselves. The people who project their own pain onto strangers. The people who think saying cruel things about someone they don't know is ever okay. And the people who think they know anything based on 90 seconds of someone's life."
"But for the past twelve years, this man has stood by me in my darkest seasons. He has held me up through struggles I couldn't see myself surviving. He is the person | turn to and ask, 'Do you have me?' and without hesitation, he has always answered, 'I've got you.'"
"So even if this post does nothing for the people who don't know us..."
"You are an incredible husband. You love your daughter beyond words. And we are so lucky to have you."
"Not because you need defending, anyone who truly knows you already knows the kind of man you are, but so you always know this: I've got you, too."
You can watch the video here:
Hillman's fellow TikTokers still were not convinced:
Not only did they feel that the previous video was plenty of evidence for what they were feeling, but the caption felt defensive and like it was to convince them, rather than actually being the truth.
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If the couple had been on a long car ride, it would be understandable if her husband felt like he couldn't spend another moment in the car, but he could have at least quietly unbuckled his seatbelt and quietly stepped out of the car, not slamming any doors.
The fact that his wife asked for so little, to simply wait and be comfortable in the car while their baby slept, and his only response was to completely disregard what she said, sent up red flags everywhere, no matter what else Hillman had to say about her husband.
