Miss America dethrones 4 rebel states

They’ve been dis-Missed.

The Miss America Organization, which saw an ugly rebellion by dozens of states this summer, is yanking the licenses of four states and threatening 15 others with probation.

“The process regarding Miss America state licensees is confidential,” the organization said Tuesday, but West Virginia, Georgia and Pennsylvania have confirmed they received termination notices.

States with terminated licenses must look for new leaders and turn over scholarship money to the national organization.

Chairwoman and ex-Fox News host and pageant winner Gretchen Carlson and President Regina Hopper are striking back after twentythree former Miss Americas and 46 of the 51 state pageant organizations called on the two to quit a month before this year’s pageant in Atlantic City.

The organization has faced scandal in the past year, after sexist emails by former CEO Sam Haskell were revealed, leading to his resignation and the appointment of former winner Carlson. Last year’s Miss America Cara Mund in August wrote an open letter claiming she had been “silenced” by leadership, leading to calls for Carlson to resign.

The swimsuit category was scrapped this year as the pageant pursued a new image. That resulted in a 23% drop in viewers from last year’s broadcast, according to Nielsen. Miss New York, Nia Franklin (photo), took the crown in this year’s competition.

News of the terminated licenses has caused a social media backlash.

“Just a few dozen more and Gretchen will finally have what she has always wanted: a pile of smoking rubble and shards of tiara crystals as she single-handedly implodes the Miss America Organization,” a Facebook user from West Virginia said.