‘Representation matters’: Miss North Carolina USA gave that speech weeks before alleged racist posts cost her the crown

Miss North Carolina USA has been stripped of her title, just weeks after old social media posts containing an alleged racial slur resurfaced online. According to the New York Post, pageant organizers at A-Blaize Productions announced the removal of Brittany Boltinhouse, citing what they described as a “thorough review of recently surfaced information.”

In a statement, the organization said the decision “was not made lightly” and reflected “our responsibility to preserve the integrity of the Miss North Carolina USA title and the values of our organization.” Miss USA president and CEO Thom Brodeur declined to detail exactly what appeared in the posts. He did stress, however, that the organization “does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, nor language that strips any person of their dignity, whoever they are.”

He described the title itself as “a position of trust” rather than “a trinket,” and said the outcome reflected a pattern of conduct rather than a single moment. According to NCBeat, Boltinhouse allegedly wrote a series of posts between 2017 and 2019 under the username Sosa the Stallion that repeatedly used a racial slur while describing herself as “toxic.” Brodeur said Boltinhouse apologized, but that her statement “does not undo the harm, and it does not change the outcome.”

The current status of her response

Brodeur said he had personally reviewed a statement Boltinhouse planned to release, describing it as containing “ownership, accountability and apology.” As of this writing, however, Boltinhouse has not yet issued that statement publicly, and multiple outlets have said she has not responded to requests for comment.

Even while defending the decision, Brodeur pushed back against treating Boltinhouse purely as a target for public shaming. Multiple outlets, including WRAL, reported him saying she has “been named, examined, and judged in public in a way that most of us would not survive,” and that she remains “a human being with a family, a future, and a life ahead of her.”

The timing has drawn particular attention given what Boltinhouse said after winning the crown on June 28. “Representation matters, and I hope every little girl who has ever wondered if she belongs can see that she does,” she said at the time, going on to thank her parents for “the character that stands beneath this crown.”

Boltinhouse, a Honduran-Mexican model, had been the first Honduran woman to hold the Miss North Carolina USA title. She was set to compete in the 75th annual Miss USA pageant in Miami later this month. Multiple outlets have reported the national competition is scheduled for August 27, though the source of this report cited an earlier date.

That spot now belongs to Myla Hadley, the contest’s first runner-up, who said she felt “humbled” by the outpouring of support since being named the new titleholder. A similar reckoning over a resurfaced racial slur played out recently when a Minnesota woman was convicted, according to court records cited in that case, after directing the same slur at a bystander, in a situation that also drew comparisons to other public figures facing consequences for old, resurfaced remarks.