Miss America Cara Mund Calls Out Gretchen Carlson For “Bullying,” Carlson Responds

Gretchen Carlson, who recently became the chairwoman of the Miss America Pageant, has created a lot of controversy with some of the changes she has made. The current Miss America, Cara Mund, initially remained silent, finally speaking out against Carlson days ago. Carlson, a former Miss America pageant winner herself, swiftly responded to Mund’s comments.

MISS AMERICA CARA MUND CALLS OUT GRETCHEN CARLSON

Mund, a resident of North Dakota and Brown University graduate, is reigning over what is perhaps the most contentious year in the institution’s existence. Back in December, leaked emails revealed Miss America CEO Sam Haskell had crass conversations with pageant board members. Former Miss Americas followed up on this by advocating for a shakeup, asking for Haskell and board members to be removed from their posts.

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Mund said little on the situation, finally opening up in a public letter to explain how her presence has been undermined at meetings, also adding that she is not allowed to write her own posts on social media. She also notes that Carlson has “bullied,” “silenced” and “marginalized” her. She accused both Carlson and Haskell of “disrespect, passive-aggressive behavior, belittlement, and outright exclusion.”

Mund, 24, noted that she was punished for her recent interview with the Press of Atlantic City newspaper; now, will only be allowed to speak for 30 seconds at the forthcoming Miss America pageant, an appearance that is intended to be her farewell as her successor gets crowned. Next month’s pageant will occur at Atlantic City on Sept. 9, three weeks from now.

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Carlson, speaking with People, responded to the current Miss America by saying, “I want to be clear that as a proponent of women my entire life, I have never bullied Cara Mund. We have supported Cara for her entire year and we will continue to support her. It’s just disappointing that she chose to air her grievance publicly and not privately.” Carlson, 52, says she sympathizes with Mund’s sentiment that it has been a challenging year, and she plans to reach out to her shortly.

Check out Cara Mund’s uInterview: