That didn’t go over so well.
Gretchen Carlson, former Fox News host-turned-chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, wouldn’t let the reigning Miss America bad-mouth her without some strong pushback. Now, Carlson is facing a chorus of 19 former Miss Americas calling for her resignation.
“Just hours after Miss America chairwoman Gretchen Carlson hit out at reigning Miss America Cara Mund over claims that she has been bullied and silenced, 19 former pageant winners have demanded that the entire board of the organization resign,” the Daily Mail reports.
Among the former pageant winners calling for the entire board, particularly Carlson, to be axed is 2010’s winner, Caressa Cameron-Jackson, who told Good Morning America Monday that both Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper need to call it a day. “I feel as though all of the leadership is complicit in this, and in order for us to move forward and to actually heal, we need to do the right thing right now, so that we can move forward and focus on who’s gonna be crowned Miss America on September 9,” said Cameron-Jackson.
And she’s not even close to alone. Eighteen other Miss Americas have now joined in solidarity with Mund in denouncing the organization’s leadership.
The revolt began when Mund issued a lengthy letter Friday to all former Miss Americas condemning Carlson, Hopper and the rest of the board for having allegedly “silenced” and bullied her.
“Let me be blunt: I strongly believe that my voice is not heard nor wanted by our current leadership; nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future,” Mund wrote in the letter. “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. After a while, the patterns have clearly emerged, and the sheer accumulation of the disrespect, passive-aggressive behavior, belittlement, and outright exclusion has taken a serious toll.”
Mund claims she was limited by the leadership to only repeating three talking points in her various public events: “Miss America is relevant. The #MeToo movement started with a Miss America, Gretchen Carlson. Gretchen Carlson went to Stanford.”
But as The Hollywood Reporter reported Sunday, Carlson wasn’t going to sit back and let herself be publicly reprimanded without giving her side of the story. Carlson wrote her own letter and published it online on Sunday (see below). In it, she said she was “surprised and saddened beyond words” that Mund had gone public with her complaints. “I so wish Cara had picked up the phone and discussed her concerns with me directly, before going to the media with allegations of bullying,” she wrote.
Carlson then directed her comments personally to Mund: “Cara, let me be clear: We, as an organization, are very proud of you and all you have accomplished. You are smart, caring and ambitious,” she wrote. But Carlson also wanted to make “clear” that her accusations were unfounded and unfair. “I also want to be clear that I have never bullied or silenced you,” Carlson wrote. “In fact, I have acknowledged to you and your parents many times that the organization understands the frustrations of serving during such a change-filled and stressful year. It surely was not what you had expected. We’ve acknowledged your grievances, and taken many steps to try to make your experience a good one. You are at the epicenter of a very historic moment for women. Over the past two years, our country has undergone a seismic shift in how professional women are depicted and treated.”
Carlson also made sure Mund knew exactly how much she had already cost the organization by publicly airing her grievances: $75,000 in scholarships had been pulled as a direct result of her claims, with more “consequences” surely to come, she wrote.
Carlson took over as chair in the midst of an email scandal that rocked the organization and as the #MeToo movement — which Carlson helped inspire by suing former Fox News chief Roger Ailes — dramatically changed the landscape for Miss Universe. Carlson has led the organization in its decision to end the swimsuit portion and to stop judging contestants on appearance, which has received some pushback.