DISS AMERICA
Pageant boss fuels feud, says gripes cost $
The war of words between the reigning Miss America and the former crown-holder who now runs the contest is turning ugly and heating up — just two weeks before the pageant.
Miss America Chairwoman Gretchen Carlson fiercely defended herself and the organization against title-holder Cara Mund’s bullying claims and claimed that the allegations have led to the loss of $75,000 in scholarship money for this year’s contestants.
Carlson, who won the pageant in 1989, insisted in a Twitter statement Monday she has never “bullied or silenced” Mund and had tried to make her reign a positive experience.
The feuding started last week after Mund penned a letter saying she feels “controlled, manipulated, silenced,” and even “bullied” under the organization’s current leadership.
Mund said in the letter, written last Friday, that she believes her voice “is not heard nor wanted” by organization heads Carlson and Regina Hopper, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
“Our chair and CEO have systematically silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis,” she said.
“My integrity — and saying and doing the right thing — means more to me than whatever punishment may await me,” Mund wrote in the five-page letter directed to former Miss Americas.
Carlson, the former Fox News host, said she was “surprised and saddened beyond words” by Mund’s missive and went on to blame the title-holder for the significant loss in scholarships for this year’s competition, which is being held in three weeks. She also said she wished Mund had confronted her first about the allegations before discussing them publicly.
“Actions have consequences. Friday, as an organization, we learned that $75,000 in scholarships which would have been the first scholarship increase in years, is no longer on the table as a direct result of the explosive allegations in your letter,” Carlson wrote in her statement.
“We are already seeing a negative ripple effect across the entire organization,” she said.
Before writing the letter, Mund had talked to The Press of Atlantic City about not feeling appreciated.
Carlson’s response to Mund’s claims has caused backlash in the pageant community.
Former Miss America 1984 Suzette Charles and former Miss America 1995 Heather Whitestone McCallum went on Megyn Kelly’s “Today” show Monday to give insight on Carlson’s behavior.
“How can you be a chairman of an organization and blame your employees for discrepancies in a business arrangement?” Charles wondered.
McCallum said she also disagreed with Carlson’s behavior.
When asked whether Carlson and Hopper should resign, McCallum and Charles said, “Absolutely. Yes.”
Prior to the release of Mund’s letter, 19 former Miss Americas launched “Miss America Needs You,” an online petition for new leadership in the Miss America community. It has since raised over 19,000 signatures.
In December, sexist emails about former Miss America contestants by the group’s leadership caused a shakeup in the organization, with three former executives leaving and Carlson being appointed chairwoman.
Controversy hit this year’s pageant after it was announced in June that the swimsuit competition would be ditched. The 2019 Miss America will be crowned at Atlantic City in a nationally televised broadcast on Sept. 9.