June 5 , 2019
by Yvette Thomas
After a controversial 18-month reign, Gretchen Carlson has resigned as chair of the Miss America Organization. She has been replaced by former South Dakota secretary of state Chantel Krebs, with attorney Brenda Keith appointed to the position of vice-chair. In 2018, Carlson signed a deal with A&E Networks to produce documentaries about women’s issues. She signed a deal with the ICM Partners agency in April 2019, according to Deadline.
Carlson, who was named chair of the Miss America Organization in January 2018, spearheaded the massive changes that the Miss America Organization implemented in 2018. The changes included eliminating the swimsuit competition, which was replaced with more interview time for the contestants; changing the show’s name from the Miss America Pageant to the Miss America Competition; and no longer judging the contestants for their physical looks. The evening gown portion of the show remained, but the contestants were no longer judged on how they looked in the gowns. The contestants also wore more casual business attire during another part of the competition. Instead of being judged by their looks, the contestants are being judged on various other factors, such as their poise, how they answer questions, their personalities, intelligence, talent and personal accomplishments.
The big changes to the Miss America show didn’t come without a lot of controversy. People opposed to the changes include several pageant officials and contestants on the state and local levels, former Miss America contestants and thousand of petitioners who have demanded that Carlson and other Miss America Organization leaders resign.
Miss America 2018 Cara Mund was also among the critics. In August, she went public with an open letter voicing her disapproval of the new policies and leadership. In the letter and in many subsequent interviews, Mund accused Carlson and other Miss American Organization leaders of bullying her and excluding her. The Miss America Organization issued this statement in response to Mund’s claims: “The Miss America Organization supports Cara. It is disappointing that she chose to air her grievances publicly not privately. Her letter contains mischaracterizations and many unfounded accusations. We are reaching out to her privately to address her concerns.” Carlson also went on Twitter to deny the claims. There also many supporters of the new changes for the Miss America show, but they weren’t as vocal as the critics were.
Despite the controversy, Mund was all smiles on stage as she fulfilled her duties of crowning Miss America 2019 (Nia Imani Franklin), during the Miss America Competition in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on September 9, 2018.
Franklin, who is a native North Carolina, graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, with a bachelor’s degree in music composition. In 2017, she earned her master of fine arts degree in music competition from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Franklin moved to New York City after being selected as a 2017 William R. Kenan Jr. fellow with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ education division.
Carlson has a bachelor’s degree in organizational behavior from Stanford University. She was Miss America 1989. After winning the Miss America crown and graduating from college, she began a career in TV journalism. Carlson was an anchor at Fox News for several years, until 2016, when she filed a sexual-harassment suit in against then-Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. She claimed that Ailes demoted and later fired her from Fox News after she refused his sexual advances. The lawsuit was settled later that year, and Ailes resigned. He died of complications from hemophilia in 2017.
In addition to the change in leadership in 2019, the Miss America Competition has changed U.S. networks from ABC to NBC. The date and location of this year’s Miss America Competition are to be announced.
July 23, 2019 UPDATE: NBC has announced that the Miss America Competition to crown Miss America 2020 will take place on December 19, 2019, at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It’s a change from the show’s tradition of taking place in September at the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.