Miss America CEO Resigns After Offensive Emails Revealed

A report in HuffPost details some shocking email exchanges between top officials at the Miss America pageant as they make disparaging comments about past winners, with one email describing Miss America winners as an unprintable word that rhymes with “runt.”

According to the emails obtained by HuffPost, other comments made by pageant execs include fat-shaming a Miss America who gained a few pounds after her win, and another in which former Miss Americas are described as a “pile of malcontents and has-beens who blame the program for not getting them where they think they can go.”

Following the publication of the emails, Dick Clark Productions — which produces the televised pageant coverage for ABC — has issued a statement announcing that company has severed its relationship with the Miss America organization after being made aware of the emails awhile back.

“Several months ago, Dick Clark Productions was made aware of a portion of the emails that were referenced in the December 21 Huffington Post article,” reads the statement, provided to Deadline. “We were appalled by their unacceptable content and insisted, in the strongest possible terms, that the Miss America Organization (MAO) board of directors conduct a comprehensive investigation and take appropriate action to address the situation. Shortly thereafter, we resigned our board positions and notified MAO that we were terminating our relationship with them.”

In one of the emails, Miss America CEO Sam Haskell thought it was funny when a colleague was discussing the death of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley and cruelly joked that “it should have been Kate Shindle,” referring to the 1998 winner of the pageant.

Since then, Haskell has resigned as CEO. President and COO Josh Randle, as well as Chairman Lynn Weidner, have also handed in their resignations. Dan Meyers, current interim Chairman, confirmed the departures of both Haskell and Randle.

“This afternoon, the Board of Directors of the Miss America Organization accepted the resignation of Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sam Haskell, effective immediately,” he said in a statement. “The Board of Directors also accepted the resignation of Chairman Lynn Weidner. At the Board’s request, Ms. Weidner has agreed to remain on the Board for up to ninety days to facilitate a smooth transition for the MAO to new leadership.”

Adding, “The Board thanks Lynn and Sam for many years of tireless work for, and significant financial support to, both the Miss America Organization and thousands of young women who received millions of dollars of educational scholarships from the Organization as a direct result of their efforts.”

Shindle, who followed up her pageant win by becoming a sought-after stage actress who’s held starring roles in Broadway productions of “Legally Blonde”, “Cabaret” and “Fun Home”, is currently the president of the Actors’ Equity Association.

After reading the HuffPost article, Shindle blasted Haskell in a statement she released via Twitter, admitting “I almost don’t have the words to respond” to the revelations contained in the piece.

“Today, I read that a member of the production team wished I were dead, and that Executive Chairman and CEO Sam Haskell laughed about it,” wrote Shindle in her statement.

“I read that the Board of Directors conspired to change the rules of the competition specifically to destroy another Miss America’s business. I read that that same board passed around photos to email each other degrading comments about a Miss America’s body,” she added. “It makes me physically ill.”

Noting that the pageant is a non-profit, publicly funded organization “whose stated mission focuses on the empowerment of young women,” Shindle ends her statement by calling on the entire board — “and especially Sam Haskell” to resign.

“Only then,” concludes Shindle, “can the women of Miss America reclaim its rich history and catalyze what is clearly a necessary evolution.”

Read her entire statement below: