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U.S. NEWS Friday 21 december 2018
Lawsuit: Miss America leaders illegally took over pageant

By WAYNE PARRY den Barth, a former Miss baseless move by "disgrun-
Associated Press North Carolina and former tled and conflicted former
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Miss America board mem- directors who have little
A former board member ber who has been among understanding of nonprofit
and four states that have the most vocal critics of the governance."
had their licenses termi- group's current leadership. "The Miss America Organi-
nated by the Miss America "They have characterized zation welcomes and re-
Organization are suing the anyone who opposes their spects differing opinions
group and its top leaders, decisions and those who and encourages healthy
claiming "an illegal and are resistant to national and respectful debate on
bad-faith takeover" of the pageant changes, primar- how best to pursue positive
pageant. ily the elimination of the change," the statement
A lawsuit filed Wednesday iconic swimsuit competi- read.
in Atlantic City by Jennifer tion, as troublemakers and "However, the ongoing
Vaden Barth and pageant a 'noisy minority,'" Vaden baseless attacks driven by
organizations from Penn- Barth said. "This could not ulterior motives masquer-
sylvania, Tennessee, West be any farther from the ading as altruism damage
Virginia and Georgia asked truth." the organization and can- In this combination of Aug. 30, 2018, file photos, Gretchen Carl-
a judge to void the actions Carlson issued her own not continue." son, left, chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors,
and Regina Hopper, the pageant's CEO speaks to the contes-
of Chairwoman Gretchen statement saying the or- The litigation comes amid tants and the crowd during the annual Miss America arrival cel-
Carlson and CEO Regina ganization dropped the an ongoing struggle by ebration in Atlantic City, N.J.
Hopper. It also seeks resto- swimsuit competition for state-level organizations to Associated Press
ration of the situation that well-documented reasons, replace the pageant's top
existed before the two as- including to make the pag- leaders. The parent group several state organizations where in the country after
sumed control of the Miss eant more relevant in to- has terminated or declined and is shopping around for spending most of its nearly
America Organization. day's society and to stop to renew the licenses of a potential new home else- 100 years in Atlantic City. q
The organization called the requiring young women to
lawsuit meritless and part of appear on stage in swim-
"a yearlong orchestrated suits and heels to try to win
smear campaign." money for their education.
Numerous state organiza- "Certain directors who vot-
tions have been battling ed for the change later
pageant leadership, cit- sought to seize control of
ing dissatisfaction with the the organization by spew-
way the group is being run ing disinformation and
and with how a decision aligning themselves with
to eliminate the swimsuit those who opposed the
competition from this year's change," Carlson said.
pageant was reached. "These people have seri-
Carlson said opponents ously harmed an organiza-
can sue all they want, but it tion they profess to care
won't bring swimsuits back about, and have person-
to the Miss America pag- ally maligned its leadership
eant. as part of a scheme to take
"This is the first step in re- power and turn back the
storing the integrity and clock. Lawsuits will not rein-
credibility of Miss America, state swimsuits."
which has been a cultural The Miss America Organi-
icon since 1921," said Va- zation called the lawsuit a