Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse, 27, was stripped of her crown on Wednesday after pageant organizers found she had used anti-Black slurs on social media over an extended period of time, per Fox News’s confirmed reporting published August 6. She had won the state title in June. She was less than three weeks away from representing North Carolina at the 75th annual Miss USA pageant in Miami on August 27. First runner-up Myla Hadley will now represent the state instead.
Miss USA CEO Thom Brodeur said in a statement that the organization “does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, nor language that strips any person of their dignity,” and described the conduct as occurring “over an extended period of time.” Boltinhouse apologized. Brodeur acknowledged the apology and said it “will not undo the harm, and it does not change the outcome.” The decision was made in consultation with Boltinhouse, her state directors, and the Miss USA organization, Brodeur said. She did not go quietly and did not publicly dispute the characterization of her conduct.
The Miss USA organization has had a turbulent recent history that makes the Boltinhouse stripping notable primarily for its timing rather than its novelty. In 2023, Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned her title, as did Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, both citing mental health concerns and the organization’s management practices. Both resignations happened within days of each other and prompted a leadership restructuring. The restructuring produced new leadership, which produced the 2025 and 2026 competition cycles under a revised organizational structure, which produced Boltinhouse’s June win, which produced Wednesday’s crown removal.
The brand’s zero-tolerance statement from Brodeur on Wednesday is the statement the brand makes when it needs to demonstrate that it has a zero-tolerance policy. The 2023 resignations were the moment when the brand needed to demonstrate that it heard its titleholders. The 2026 stripping is the moment when the brand needed to demonstrate that it enforces its standards. The 75th annual pageant is in three weeks. Myla Hadley is going to Miami.
Boltinhouse won in June and lost the crown in August. Hadley never lost it. The pageant is August 27.
When a state titleholder is stripped three weeks before nationals for conduct that occurred over an extended period and an apology doesn’t change the outcome, what exactly was the crown for?
Sources
Fox News: Miss North Carolina USA loses crown — organizer condemns racism, homophobia, transphobia
Raw Story: Beauty queen’s sordid social media past comes to light as she’s booted from Miss USA
