The Miss USA Organization has announced that Brittany Boltinhouse, who was crowned Miss North Carolina 2026 in June, has been stripped of her title after she allegedly made racist remarks in resurfaced social media posts.
“Today, Brittany Boltinhouse’s reign as Miss North Carolina USA 2026 came to an end,” Thom Brodeur, chairman and CEO of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, said in a statement shared via social media on Wednesday, August 5. “The decision was made together with her, her state directors and in consultation with the Miss USA organization.”
The statement noted that Boltinhouse, 27, would “soon” release her own statement.
“I want to speak to the issue plainly, because our titleholders, our state directors, fans and every young woman watching deserves to hear where I stand,” Brodeur continued. “The Miss USA Organization does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity — whoever they are. That is not a policy written for a press release. It is the floor of what it means to represent this brand.”
Brodeur added that a title within the organization is not a “trinket.”
“It is a position of trust, extended by an organization and accepted by a woman who agrees to carry a standard in public,” he wrote. “When that standard is broken, the title cannot continue as though nothing happened.”
Brodeur did not specify what conduct led to the decision. However, he noted, “What was brought to us was not a single moment. It reflected conduct over an extended period of time. That is why this outcome was reached, and I stand behind it without qualification. State titleholders are recruited, vetted and approved for competition at the state level. We acted as soon as this reached us.”
Going on to share the “hardest part” of the situation, Brodeur wrote that “there is a young woman at the center of this” who has been “named, examined and judged in public in a way that most of us would not survive.”
“She is still a human being with a family, a future and a life ahead of her that is longer than this part of her journey. I will not run an organization that pretends otherwise,” he continued. “I have never believed that accountability requires cruelty, or that holding a line means enjoying the fall of the person who crossed it. Zero tolerance is a standard for conduct. It is not permission to strip someone of their humanity — which is, after all, precisely the thing we are holding her accountable for doing to others.”
Brodeur also noted that Boltinhouse’s statement contains “ownership, accountability and apology.”
“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,” he wrote. “I believe people can change. I have built my career on the conviction that young people are more than the worst thing they have done. I’m also quite aware that change is not a statement. It is a record. It is built over time, in the open, through conduct rather than apology alone.”
Addressing Boltinhouse directly, Brodeur said he wishes her “well” and called this a moment of “reflection” that will lead to “possibility and growth.”
“I believe the best you have to offer this world is ahead of you, and that is a promise worth making to and keeping for yourself,” he added.
Brodeur concluded by announcing that Myla Hadley, the first runner-up, would step into Boltinhouse’s role with the organization’s “full confidence and support.”
“What’s next, is best,” he shared.
