The AP reported that the reigning Miss America says she has been bullied, manipulated and silenced by the pageant’s leadership. The alleged bullies include former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. Carlson, a former Miss America, famously sued Roger Ailes for inappropriate sexualized comments, eventually settling for millions.
In a letter sent Friday to former Miss Americas, Cara Mund says she decided to speak out despite the risk of punishment. She said she doesn’t want to leave this mess for future Miss Americas.
Miss Mund criticized both Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America Organization and Regina Hopper, the CEO. She said her voice was not heard nor did leadership have any interest in knowing who she was.
“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 described a year of workplace bullying, which included “deliberate insults, threats, demeaning comments, constant criticism … and blatant ostracism.”
MUND WAS ALLOWED THREE TALKING POINTS
In the letter, she describes the Carlson-aggrandizing talking points she was ordered to say:
Shortly after the new board took over, I was given three talking points that I was required to use at every appearance and on which I would be critiqued:
1. Miss America is relevant.
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2. The #MeToo movement started with a Miss America, Gretchen Carlson.
3. Gretchen Carlson went to Stanford (I was also allowed to mention my own education at Brown University to show that we are both well-educated leaders).
“If you want Miss America to be relevant, then the leadership needs to understand she is not a wind-up toy who they can power up to spit out the meaningless words that are put into her mouth, and then put back on the shelf until it’s time to do it again,” Mund wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 16.
MISS AMERICA OFFICIALS FROM 19 STATES WANT THE TWO GONE
Pageant officials from at least 19 states have called for the current leadership to resign.
The letter was leaked by a representative of a group of former Miss Americas and state pageant directors. They have been screaming for the ouster of Carlson and Hopper. They have also threatened a boycott or other protests during the week leading up to the televised broadcast.
The current leadership is calling the pageant a ‘competition’. This year’s competition will not include swimsuits. Many have objected to the changes in the pageant. The officials echoed Miss America’s complaint that there is a lack of transparency from the top.
GRETCHEN CARLSON RESPONDED TO MISS MUND
The former sociology major issued a statement.
“I want to be clear that as a proponent of women my entire life, I have never bullied Cara Mund,” Carlson tells PEOPLE exclusively. “We have supported Cara for her entire year and we will continue to support her. It’s just disappointing that she chose to air her grievance publicly and not privately.”
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