Miss North Carolina USA stripped of pageant title after racism allegations

A beauty pageant queen who was recently crowned Miss North Carolina has been stripped of her title after a series of racist posts reportedly linked to her social media surfaced online.

Brittany Boltinhouse, 27, had her title revoked on Wednesday after A Blaze Productions — the pageant organizer — said it had conducted a thorough review of “recently surfaced information.”

“The decision was not made lightly. It followed a thorough review … and was based on the totality of the circumstances and our responsibility to preserve the integrity of the Miss North Carolina USA title and the values of our organization,” it wrote in an Instagram statement.

The organization did not specify the reason for its decision but wrote it believes people are “capable of growth” and that “grace and accountability can coexist.”

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Local North Carolina news outlet NCbeat first reported the existence of posts where an account linked to Boltinhouse appeared to use racist and derogatory language under the X handle Sosa the Stallion in posts from 2017 and 2019.

Boltinhouse was crowned Miss North Carolina in June and was preparing to represent the state at the 75th annual Miss USA pageant in Miami later this month. First runner-up Myla Hadley inherited the title, the production company confirmed.

Meanwhile, Thom Brodeur, the president and CEO of the Miss USA organization, said in a separate statement that the brand does “not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity,” adding that Boltinhouse will soon release her own statement.

“A title here isn’t a trinket, it is a position of trust extended by an organization and accepted by a woman who agrees to carry a standard in public,” Brodeur continued.

“When that standard is broken, the title cannot continue as though nothing has happened.”

After winning the title in June, Boltinhouse wrote, “There are moments in life that forever change who you are. This is one of mine.”

“I carry this crown with immense pride. I have the honor of becoming the first woman of Honduran heritage to represent North Carolina at Miss USA, and the first Honduran Miss North Carolina USA. Representation matters, and I hope every little girl who has ever wondered if she belongs can see that she does,” she added.

Scandals of this nature have also plagued the Miss Universe pageant.

Last December, Finland’s prime minister, Petteri Orpo, apologized to Asian nations in an attempt to stifle a growing controversy over racist images shared by members of his government’s four-party coalition in solidarity with a beauty pageant winner who was stripped of her title.

The scandal arose when the former Miss Finland winner, Sarah Dzafce, 22, was pictured pulling back her eyes in an image shared on social media alongside the caption, “eating with a Chinese person.”

Two members of the Finnish parliament and one European parliament member, all from the Finns Party, the country’s right-wing populist movement, responded to Dzafce by posting similar images of themselves pulling back their eyes after it was announced that she would be stripped of her crown over the derogatory post.

In his apology, released by Finnish embassies in China, Japan and South Korea, Orpo wrote, “These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion.”

Dzafce, who is not of Asian heritage, also apologized, saying she did not intend to offend anyone.

“I take responsibility for my actions and learn from this,” she wrote in an Instagram post, days before the Miss Finland organization revoked her title.