Suspended pageant boss hits out over email scandal
ATLANTIC CITY The Miss America Organisation has suspended its chief executive after leaked emails surfaced showing him and others disparaging the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas.
Sam Haskell said yesterday he would abide by the suspension, even while decrying the Huffington Post story on Friday that publicised the emails as ‘‘unkind and untrue.’’
‘‘My mistake is a mistake of words,’’ Haskell wrote in a statement issued shortly after the board suspended him indefinitely while it investigates the situation. ‘‘Much of what was reported is dishonest, deceptive, and despicable.
‘‘The story is so unkind and untrue, and hurts me, my family, and the stewardship of this nonprofit. Those who know my heart know that this is not indicative of my character, nor is it indicative of my business acumen.’’
Yashar Ali, who wrote the Huffington Post article, defended its accuracy, saying he was given the emails by two sources ‘‘who felt that Mr Haskell’s behaviour was egregious’’. He said he planned to publish all the emails he had received in a future story.
The Miss America Organisation said its board ‘‘will be conducting an in-depth investigation into alleged inappropriate communications and the nature GETTY IMAGES in which they were obtained’’.
The statement came just hours after 49 former Miss Americas signed a petition demanding the resignation of Haskell and other pageant officials, as did more than 1600 state and local titleholders, contestants and pageant volunteers.
The emails included one that used a vulgar term for female genitalia to refer to past Miss America winners, one that wished that a particular former Miss America had died, and others that speculated about how many sexual partners another former Miss America had had.
Several of the emails targeted Mallory Hagan, who won the 2013 pageant, claiming she had gained weight after winning and speculating about how many men she had had sex with.
‘‘My hope is that this story that broke will bring light to the type of behaviour that’s been in leadership of the Miss America Organisation and really help us put in place some people who care and who embody the mission of Miss America,’’ Hagan said in a Twitter video.
Haskell said he was attacked for a year by two former Miss Americas, who he did not name, ‘‘which impaired my judgment when responding to the inappropriate emails sent to me about them. For that, I deeply apologise’’.
‘‘I have the utmost respect for the women of this program and contestants at every level,’’ he continued. ‘‘It breaks my heart for anyone to think otherwise.’’
Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell, who signed the petition, said she ‘‘lived under this misogynistic leadership for a year of my life, and I’m definitely glad to see all of this evidence come into the light’’.
She said pageant officials ‘‘told me which former Miss Americas I wasn’t allowed to associate with or pose for photos with’’.
Yesterday, the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority began reviewing its contract with the Miss America Organisation after numerous local and state officials called for the final year of the deal to be killed.
The emails have already cost the pageant its TV production partner and raised questions about the future of the nationally televised broadcast from Atlantic City each year. AP