Dethroned Miss North Carolina USA winner Brittany Boltinhouse has filed a defamation lawsuit after being stripped of her title – the place she accused pageant bosses of masking up the explanation why her crown was eliminated.
Her attorneys have accused A-Blaize Productions — the pageant producers — and Miss USA president Thom Brodeur of “maliciously coordinating to publish a false public narrative portraying [her] as a racist, homophobe, and insupportable bigot to be shunned from public life,” based on a lawsuit, which was filed on Sunday and seen by The Put up.
The lawsuit was filed on the eve of Miss USA, which kicks off in Miami, Florida, on Monday.
Boltinhouse, 27, was dethroned on Aug. 5, round 5 weeks after clinching the Miss North Carolina USA crown, and it got here following an expose, which unearthed social media posts from 2017-19 containing the N-word.
However the lawsuit claims her social media posts solely turned a difficulty after Boltinhouse, whose mother and father are Hispanic, had clinched the title.
“Almost a decade later… when Brittany’s immigrant impressed work ethic was propelling her to the American dream, [the pageant organizers] would conspire to make use of these innocuous posts and their self-evident ubiquitous use of the favored slang time period ‘n—a’ to falsely smear Brittany as a racist, homophobe, transphobe, and bigot,” they mentioned.
“[Pageant organizers] hid from the general public the true cause they dethroned Brittany: she is a conservative Christian.”
Boltinhouse beforehand claimed she was dethroned over her political opinions – allegations which she has doubled down on within the lawsuit.
She attended President Trump’s speech on the Nationwide Mall on Jan. 6 2021, expressed assist for Andrew and Tristan Tate, publicized her objections to former President Biden’s “Transgender Day of Visibility” proclamation in 2024, and issued a rallying cry to vote for Trump on the eve of the November 2024 election.
Her attorneys claimed they used her conservative beliefs to “falsely painting and defame her … as a racist, homophobe, transphobe, and a bigot who must be shunned from public life.”
Pageant organizers are accused of attempting to acquire a false confession from Boltinhouse within the type of a pre-prepared assertion – remarks which she refused to endorse.
“Over the previous a number of days, I’ve been pressured to confront components of my previous that I’m not happy with,” the assertion mentioned.
“That has included a combat from my teenage years and social media posts I made as a younger grownup. These phrases and actions have been mine, and I take full duty for them. I don’t search to reduce them or make excuses for them. To those that have been damage or disillusioned by my previous phrases or actions, I supply my honest apology. This expertise has been painful, nevertheless it has additionally been humbling.”
Calls with pageant organizers additionally steered Boltinhouse was dethroned over a number of elements.
“Brittany, you might be being dethroned, or you’ve got been dethroned due to the totality of each single factor altogether,” Nic Blaize, the pageant’s co-director mentioned, based on a transcript of a recorded name from Aug. 5.
It additionally appeared that pageant organizers have been pressured from excessive above.
“The nationwide workplace informed us to make a press release,” Nic Blaize mentioned, when requested about why bosses shared the web assertion. “They informed us too that we needed to make a press release.”
A-Blaize Productions beforehand denied Boltinhouse was dethroned over her beliefs.
“A Blaize Productions’ choice was not primarily based on Brittany Boltinhouse’s political opinions, non secular beliefs, or protected private viewpoints. Our group consists of individuals from varied backgrounds, political opinions, private beliefs and values. We welcome and rejoice that,” a spokesperson informed The Put up.
“The choice adopted a cautious overview of the totality of knowledge that got here to our consideration, together with beforehand undisclosed conduct and public content material spanning a number of years that was inconsistent with the requirements and obligations anticipated of a Miss North Carolina USA titleholder underneath the agreements governing the place.”
Boltinhouse is searching for compensation and Myla Hadley assumed her crown.
