HuffPost: How The Miss America Pageant's CEO Really Talks About The Winners

Miss America Organization CEO Sam Haskell

Writing for the Huffington Post, reporter Yashar Ali dropped a bombshell today as he revealed several internal emails obtained from the Miss America Organization that shows how the folks at the top really feel about their pageant winners.

Name-calling, slut-shaming and fat-shaming are all involved.

From the article:

In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization, Sam Haskell, sent an email to the lead writer of the Miss America pageant telecast, Lewis Friedman, informing him of a change he wanted to make in the script: “I have decided that when referring to a woman who was once Miss America, we are no longer going to call them Forever Miss Americas....please change all script copy to reflect that they are Former Miss Americas!”

Friedman replied, “I’d already changed “Forevers” to “Cunts.” Does that work for you?”

Haskell’s short reply came quickly: “Perfect...bahahaha.”

At that point, Haskell had been the leader of Miss America for nine years, after rising through the ranks at a top Hollywood talent agency. Many prior winners, or as they’re called, “formers,” consider the pageant a wonderful, wholesome activity for young women. But Haskell’s behavior behind closed doors shows he regularly maligned, fat-shamed and slut-shamed the former Miss Americas, calling them shocking names and in one case laughing at the suggestion that one of the women should die.

That's just the beginning.

In one email that discussed the passing of former Miss America Mary Ann Mobley, a MAO executive wrote: "It should have been (former Miss America) Kate Shindle."

Another exchange about former Miss America Mallory Hagen wondered if four executives at the MAO were the "only four" men who didn't have sex with her.

There's much more at the link. Below is The Today Show's segment on the story.

7. Today Show segment about my story pic.twitter.com/GuwnJ80YHh

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 22, 2017