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Not only did Carlson deny bullying but she said that Mund's accusations have caused a \"negative ripple effect\" across the organization.

Cameron-Jackson said she disagrees with Carlson's statement.

\"[W]e are not going to do the victim-shaming here,\" she said. \"I’m sure she [Carlson] didn’t want that when she was part of the #MeToo movement and I think that these sponsorships will return when they see that we are willing to do the right thing. I don’t think that it’s also fair if someone has [said], ‘You hurt me' to say, 'No, I didn’t.'\"

Cameron-Jackson continued, \"I think what should have been said was, 'I’m sorry for anything I have done that would have made you feel as though,' and then continue on, but you don’t get to outright say, 'No, I didn’t.'\"

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Caressa Cameron-Jackson, Miss America 2010, is one of the former titleholders who have called for the immediate resignation of Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors.
>

The Miss America organization announced June 5 that it would be eliminating its swimsuit competition and will no longer judge contestants based on physical appearance.

\"We are no longer a pageant,\" Carlson said on \"GMA\" at the time. \"We are a competition.\"

In place of the swimsuit portion of the competition, Miss America contestants will now take part in a live interactive session with the judges, the organization said.

Many thought changes to the contest were happening too far, too fast. But Cameron-Jackson said the call for new leadership has nothing to do with the end of the swimsuit competition.

\"PHOTO:
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images
PHOTO: Gretchen Carlson attends the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, March 4, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
>

\"What was upsetting is finding out that the reason that the board voted to get rid of swimsuit was under the impression that the network who was going to air the pageant would not do so if the swimsuit competition was part of it,\" she added. \"And then when it was found out that that was not the truth, that was just the beginning of a lot of undercurrents of transparency that states have been asking for, we as Miss Americas have been asking for and not getting it.

\"And so that’s what this is really about and I hate that people are trying to make it a swimsuit issue when it's more about a transparency and a leadership issue.\"

Despite the turmoil, Cameron-Jackson said, she believes Miss America can thrive.

\"I think it’s great that we are allowing and making sure that there is a space for accountability and then doing what’s necessary to ensure that we don’t continue down a path that’s wrong,\" she said.

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