Former Miss America winner calls out organisation for ‘silencing’ her

'No Miss America should be humiliated or erased. Ever.'

A former winner of the Miss America competition has spoken out against the organisation, claiming that it has “silenced, reduced and marginalised” her.

Cara Mund, 24, was named Miss North Dakota in June 2017 before being crowned Miss America 2018 in September 2017.

After winning the Miss America title last year, Mund was very excited about the work that she’d be able to carry out in her role. However, as she explained in an open letter, the reality has been very different to her expectations.

In a post shared on her official Facebook page, Mund states that she’s felt bullied and disrespected by the organisation over the past eight months, with senior figures of authority regularly dictating what she was allowed to talk about at public events and excluding her from important occasions.

“Our chair and CEO have systematically silenced me, reduced me, marginalised me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis,” she writes.

“After a while, the patterns have clearly emerged, and the sheer accumulation of the disrespect, passive aggressive behaviour, belittlement, and outright exclusion has taken a serious toll.”

According to Mund, she hasn’t been allowed to post on the Miss America social media profiles, despite previous winners being given permission to do so.

On top of that, the organisation has allegedly frequently posted on social media on her behalf without making it clear that it’s not actually Mund behind the screen.

“They post officially for me and as me - misspellings and all - without informing the public that it is not me posting, and often utilise these accounts to promote Gretchen [Carlson, head of board of directors] and Regina’s [Hopper, president and CEO] activities," she writes.

“When they shrink my voice in this way, it eliminates my chance to be a spokesperson for my generation on the very platforms where we consume our content.”

Mund has been supposedly kept in the dark on multiple occasions, only finding out the date of this year’s competition on Twitter, despite the fact that her position as Miss America is an official job as opposed to just a title.

Earlier this year, the Miss America Organisation stated that it would be encouraging contestants to display their own personal sense of style as part of its new ethos.

However, Mund has found that the organisation hasn’t practised what it preaches, rudely penalising several of her outfit choices in the past.

“I understand that I am the representative of a brand and a company and employed to do a job,” Mund writes.

“That does not mean that an employer can treat you however they feel like treating you that day. Employers are legally required to provide a workplace free from harassment and bullying.”

Following attempts to reach out to other former Miss America winners to express her concerns, Mund was told to keep her issues under wraps and “in the family.”

“No Miss America should be humiliated or erased. Ever,” she writes.

Yesterday, the Miss America Organisation published an official statement in response to Mund’s open letter.

“The Miss America Organisation supports Cara,” the statement reads.

“It is disappointing that she chose to air her grievances publicly not privately.

“Her letter contains mischaracterisations and many unfounded accusations.

"We are reaching out to her privately to address her concerns."