Former Miss North Carolina USA is speaking out after she was stripped of her title. Brittany Boltinhouse was stripped of representing her state by the Miss USA Organization.
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On August 5, the organization announced that Boltinhouse was no longer Miss North Carolina USA 2026. Thom Brodeur, chairman and CEO, said the organization made the decision over violation of their standards.
Now, speaking out on YouTube in an interview, Boltinhouse shared her own side. She said that she believed her "conservative political and social values" caused the organization to strip her of her title.
"I'm proud of my standards. I'm a proud conservative woman. But a Christian woman. I'm a God-fearing woman," she said. "I'm very much at peace and I'm actually glad it happened to me and not some other young lady that, you know, maybe just probably wouldn't make it through what I'm going through right now. The scrutiny, my family behind it as well. But I will say that I'm very much at peace and I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know who I am and I know what I can become."
Miss North Carolina Title Stripped
Meanwhile, Boltinhouse said that she has rights to her views.
"No, I think that in any system, not just in pageantry, I think you have the right to be a conservative in this country," Boltinhouse said. "It's a constitutional right. I don't know. I don't know. All I can say from the information that I have today and what I believe and I think is honestly I don't know. I wasn't really given anything. All I can say is that I think and believe that my title was ripped from me because of my beliefs."
The organization stripped Miss North Carolina USA of her title just a month after crowning her. Brodeur wrote that the organization "does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity."
"That is not a policy written for a press release," he also wrote in the statement. "It is the floor of what it means to represent this brand."
"What was brought to us was not a single moment," he also said. "It reflected conduct over an extended period of time. That is why this outcome was reached, and I stand behind it without qualification."
