Dethroned Miss North Carolina USA files defamation lawsuit against pageant organizers
Former Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse filed a defamation lawsuit against pageant organizers after the Miss USA organization stripped her of her title earlier this month, alleging they tried to portray her as a racist and targeted her because she is a "conservative Christian."
While the Aug. 5 announcement of the decision from Miss USA Chairman and CEO Thom Brodeur did not specify the conduct Boltinhouse was alleged to have committed, the statement said in part that the organization "does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, nor language that strips any person of their dignity."
The suit, filed Sunday in Duplin County, North Carolina, Superior Court, alleges that the pageant organizers were "maliciously coordinating to publish a false public narrative portraying Brittany Boltinhouse as a racist, homophobe, transphobe and intolerable bigot to be shunned from public life," largely based on social media posts.
The defendants "then lied to the world that Brittany had confessed to being such an intolerant monster," the suit claims.
Her social media posts, according to the lawsuit, "revealed she was a staunch supporter of President Trump, the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and an open skeptic of President Biden’s 'Transgender Day of Visibility.'”
And while detractors of Boltinhouse pointed to her use of a racial slur in her social media posts as many as six times in 2017 and 2019, her attorney characterized it as “the self-evident, colloquial use of the popular slang term.”
"Defendants hid from the public the real reason they dethroned Brittany: she is a conservative Christian," the lawsuit alleges.
Boltinhouse is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, according to the suit, arguing that she "suffered injury to her reputation, livelihood, professional relationships, and community standing."
The complaint named as defendants the Miss USA organization, chairman and CEO of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA Thom Brodeur, and A Blaize Productions LLC, the state organizer of the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, as well as company officers Ariana Blaize and Nic Blaize.
An ABC News request for comment on the suit sent to the Miss USA organization and A Blaize Productions did not immediately receive a response.
Attorney Patrick Mincey first announced Boltinhouse's intention to sue in an Aug. 11 statement. Asked then by ABC News about Boltinhouse’s intent and her claim that she was stripped of her title because of her conservative Christian beliefs, the Miss USA organization declined to comment.
In an Aug. 12 statement to ABC News, A Blaize Productions LLC denied Boltinghouse's allegations.
"Ms. Boltinhouse was repeatedly informed of the factors that led to the organization’s decision. During those communications, we expressly distinguished her personal political and religious beliefs from the conduct and material that were the subject of our concerns," the statement said.
In his Aug. 5 statement, Brodeur said the decision to strip Boltinhouse of her title was based on "not a single moment," but "conduct over an extended period of time," and that the decision "was made together with her, her state directors and in consultation with the Miss USA organization."
Brodeur's statement further said that he had seen a statement from Boltinhouse that included "ownership, accountability and apology.” Brodeur went on to say, “While it does not undo the harm, and it does not change the outcome, it is the beginning of the only thing that ever repairs harm, which is change."
“Brodeur deliberately, falsely and misleadingly gave his and the Miss USA Defendants’ enormous online audience the false impression Brittany had admitted to being a racist, homophobe or transphobe – all of which are categorically denied, false, and untrue,” the lawsuit claims.
Boltinhouse lost her title fewer than three weeks before the Miss USA national competition, which is scheduled for Aug. 24-27.
"I believe I was stripped of my title because of my political stance and my belief system as a conservative Christian woman,” Boltinhouse said in an Aug. 7 interview with the Carolina Journal, adding then that a confidentiality clause prevented her from commenting further.
ABC News' Jeana Fermi contributed to this report.
