ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The leaders of the Miss America organization in three more states have had their licenses revoked by the national organization in a high-stakes clash between state pageants and the national leadership headed by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson.
The Miss America Organization sent termination letters Friday to New Jersey, New York and Florida in its most recent purge of pageant leaders across the country. The Associated Press obtained two of the letters, and confirmed with leaders of the third state that it, too, had been revoked.
So far, the parent organization is seeking the ouster of pageant leaders in seven states, and those in an eighth state have resigned in protest.
The latest targets included the pageant’s current and traditional home — New Jersey, whose Boardwalk Hall hosts it each year in Atlantic City — and the state that has produced four of the past six Miss Americas (New York), including the current Miss America, Nia Imani Franklin.
Earlier this year, the Miss America Organization had moved against Georgia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, while Colorado’s leaders quit.
States whose licenses are terminated must replace current leaders. They can request an appeal hearing within 10 days from Miss America’s executive committee.
The Miss America Organization declined to discuss the shake-up and would not say whether any of the targeted state leadership groups has been replaced.