Less than a week after former Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse was stripped of her title for allegedly making racially offensive social media posts, the pageant queen is threatening legal action against the event’s organizers.
In a video statement posted on Instagram, Boltinhouse’s lawyer, Patrick Mincey, said organizers were “wrongful and unjustified” in their decision to revoke her title.
Mincey, who works for North Carolina-based law firm Mincey Bell Rhoades, said the title was one the 27-year-old had “rightfully earned,” and that his firm was conducting a comprehensive investigation into “the circumstances surrounding the removal of Brittany’s crown.”
“That investigation is national in scope, sweeping in reach and focused on one objective: uncovering and presenting the full truth behind what appears to be another troubling example of cancel culture directed at a young woman because of her deeply held religious convictions and publicly expressed political beliefs,” Mincey continued.
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He also claimed his firm’s investigation had obtained compelling evidence showing pageant officials acknowledged the absence of any legitimate or legal basis for their decision to strip Boltinhouse of her title.
He pointed to her roots as the child of immigrant parents, calling her the “very best of the American dream.”
Boltinhouse was stripped of her crown last week after A Blaize Productions — the pageant organizer — said it had conducted a thorough review of “recently surfaced information,” which local North Carolina news outlet NCbeat first reported was a reference to posts where an account linked to Boltinhouse appeared to use racist and derogatory language between 2017 and 2019.
The organization did not specify the reason for its decision but wrote in a statement that it believes people are “capable of growth” and that “grace and accountability can coexist.”
Thom Brodeur, the president and CEO of the Miss USA organization, said in a separate statement that the brand does “not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity,” adding that Boltinhouse will soon release her own statement.
The former pageant queen said in an interview with the Carolina Journal on Tuesday that she believes she was stripped of her title because of her “political stance” and belief system as a “conservative Christian woman.”
Boltinhouse was crowned Miss North Carolina in June and was preparing to represent the state at the 75th annual Miss USA pageant in Miami later this month. First runner-up Myla Hadley inherited the title, A Blaze Productions confirmed.
After winning the title in June, Boltinhouse wrote, “There are moments in life that forever change who you are. This is one of mine.”
“I’m proud of my faith, I’m proud of my standards, I’m a proud conservative woman, but Christian woman, a God-fearing woman,” she continued.
“Every teenager has made a mistake; every person has made a mistake,” she added. “I’m here to talk about the woman I am today. Things may have happened a decade ago, but I am the hardworking woman who stood up there and won Miss North Carolina USA fair and square.”
She said pageant organizers had not offered her a clear reason for the decision to dethrone her.
A Blaize Productions told The News & Observer that the reasons for the revocation of her title “were clearly shared and expressed” to the former pageant winner.