The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ex-Miss Americas want entire board to resign positions
Former pageant winners seek new slate for leadership.
Former Miss Americas Mallory Hagan, Gretchen Carlson and Kate Shindle are demanding that the entire board of the Miss America Organization step down in the wake of insulting internal emails that were recently made public.
The board announced a plan Wednesday night to form a committee that would seek “a new leadership structure and respective names” after the resignations of three top executives on Saturday.
The committee will include two current board members and five people chosen from nominations made by select former Miss Americas and state-level pageant executives, the board said in a statement.
After that announcement, Hagan, Carlson and Shindle rallied publicly behind a petition calling for all current members of the board to resign.
“Implying that the complicit members of the current board will now choose the new leadership for the forward movement of the Miss America Organization is laughable,” Hagan said.
In a Facebook video, she criticized the board’s actions — or lack thereof — after the emails were leaked to the media.
“They thought they could weather the storm,” said Hagan, who was ridiculed in the emails. “I am the storm. You’re not weathering it.” The emails were leaked to The HuffPost, which published them last Thursday. According to Hagan, the board had previously reviewed the emails and opted against taking action.