Former Miss North Carolina USA says she is ‘not sorry’ for using racial slur
TheGrio...
Brittany Boltinhouse is defending her comments after losing her title over conduct that officials said violated pageant standards.
Brittany Boltinhouse, the former Miss North Carolina USA winner whose reign ended after pageant officials said her conduct violated organizational standards, says she is “not at all” sorry for using the N-word. The comments come one week after TheGrio reported on her title removal and amid renewed scrutiny of racism in beauty pageants, an industry in which Black contestants historically faced exclusion. The controversy is now escalating into a legal and political fight.
TMZ reported that Boltinhouse made the remarks in a new Daily Mail interview when she was asked whether she believed she owed anyone an apology for using the slur. “No. Not at all,” she responded.
Boltinhouse also argued that she had been “unfairly targeted” and framed the dispute as a First Amendment issue. She said her rights had been violated and maintained that her Christian faith and conservative political views, rather than her old posts, were the real reason she lost the crown.
Her attorney, Patrick Mincey, has also defended her, saying she has been falsely labeled racist, homophobic and transphobic. Mincey told the outlet that Boltinhouse is not distancing herself from the old posts and is not apologizing for them. He also argued that she is the person who is owed an apology.
The controversy began after screenshots attributed to an older account allegedly connected to Boltinhouse resurfaced online. The NC Beat reported that the account repeatedly used the N-word between 2017 and 2019. Pageant officials have not publicly identified each post or comment that factored into their decision.
Miss USA chairman and CEO Thom Brodeur said last week that Boltinhouse had agreed to step down after conduct that violated the organization’s standards over an extended period. He said the organization does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia or language that attacks another person’s dignity.
First runner-up Myla Hadley has since assumed the Miss North Carolina USA title and is expected to represent the state at the Miss USA competition on Aug. 27.