From mysterious disappearances and insulting fat man emails to suicide attempts, inside the dark world of the Miss America pageant

The Miss America pageant may be known for its glitz and glamour, but beneath the surface dark secrets and scandals lurk.

first time Miss America pageant Held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1921, the event, like all pageants, has gone through several major changes over the years.

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Disappearing Miss America

One of the earliest scandals involved 1937 pageant winner Bette Cooper.

According to Margot Mifflin, who wrote a book about pageants, Cooper never wanted to enter a contest.

Apparently, she romanced her assigned driver for a week and helped her sneak off to escape official duties.

Her disappearance has resulted in a bizarre photo of the runner-up standing next to an empty Miss America throne.

After Cooper was forced to apologize, she disappeared again and had nothing to do with the pageant.

Fat shame/misogynist emails

In 2017, it was revealed that the contest’s CEO, Sam Haskell, had a history of making cruel and often misleading comments about contestants in emails.

The shocking email was published by The Huffington Post in 2017.

Mallory Hagan, 2013 Miss American, was often the target of Haskell’s ridicule, with him commenting on her weight and speculating about her sex life.

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The winner’s uncrowning and subsequent suicide attempt

1957 MISS USA pageant winner Mary Leona Gage was stripped of her crown after it was revealed that she had lied about several things during the competition, including that she was married, had children, and was about age. was broken.

She said she was 21 when she competed, but authorities later found out she was 18 and had two children.

Decades later, in an interview with the Baltimore Sun, Gage revealed that he got married at 14 and began competing in contests to deal with the “oppression” of marriage.

After being stripped of her title, she told the outlet she attempted suicide multiple times, developed a drug addiction, and later lost custody of her children.

Gage passed away in 2010.

Vanessa Williams bark removal

Actress Vanessa Williams was the first black woman to be named Miss America in 1984.

However, she had to return the crown after Penthouse magazine published nude photos of Williams taken while she was working as a photographer’s assistant several years ago.

It took 32 years for the pageant to issue an official apology to Williams, and it did so in 2016.

throw away the bathing suit

After Haskell stepped down as CEO of Miss American, former winner Gretchen Carlson – Miss America 1989 – rebranded the contest, including scrapping the famous swimsuit contest.

The move caused a lot of infighting within the organization.

Mifflin explained in her book.”[The swimsuit change] really divided people.

“One group wanted to keep the tradition alive, but some participants told me how frustrating they were. [wearing a bathing suit on stage] was. “

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