Miss America organisation running bullying inquiry
The official arrival of the 51 hopefuls vying for the title of Miss America went off yesterday without direct mention of the recent public tensions between the reigning titleholder and the pageant’s leadership.
Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson feuded on Twitter with reigning Miss America Cara Mund after Mund said she had been ‘‘silenced’’ by pageant officials seeking to control what she said publicly. Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper also have come under fire for their decision to discontinue the swimsuit competition. Many state pageant officials have called for Carlson and Hopper to resign.
Mund and Carlson sat several seats away from each other during yesterday’s introduction ceremony on the boardwalk but did not appear to have any interaction. During her comments, Mund said she was confident whoever won this year’s competition ‘‘will be 100 per cent ready and supported throughout her entire year’’.
Afterwards, she mostly deflected questions about her August 17 letter criticising the pageant’s leadership, saying, ‘‘It’s all about the women competing and we’re here to celebrate their accomplishments.’’
Asked about the letter, Mund said, ‘‘I think my letter’s telling. At the same time, I’m a product of this organisation and I’m very grateful for that. I’ll be able to go to law school because of the scholarship money I earned from this organisation.’’
Carlson and Hopper separately declined to answer questions after the ceremony.
Yesterday, an attorney representing Mund said the Miss America Organisation had told him it was conducting an internal investigation into Mund’s allegations that included, in his words, ‘‘bullying and a corrosive work environment’’. In a letter to the organisation’s attorneys, attorney Roger Haber urged that the results be made public. A spokeswoman for the Miss America Organisation did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The next Miss America will be crowned at Boardwalk Hall in a nationally televised broadcast on September 9.
Carlson and Hopper took over earlier this year after previous pageant officials were revealed to have circulated emails denigrating the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas.
Mund said in a letter to former Miss Americas on August 17 that she had been left out of interviews and not invited to meetings, and that she had a televised farewell speech cut to 30 seconds after she indirectly hinted at trouble with pageant leadership in a newspaper interview. Carlson responded on Twitter that Mund’s actions had cost the pageant US$75,000 (NZ$113,000) in new scholarships and that she was ‘‘already seeing a negative ripple effect across the entire organisation’’. –AP