Brittany Boltinhouse, the 2026 Miss North Carolina USA winner who was recently stripped of her title, is now suing the beauty pageant and its organizers, alleging that they caused "excruciating reputational destruction" to her image.
Boltinhouse, who filed the civil lawsuit Aug. 24 in Duplin Superior Court in North Carolina, names the Miss USA Organization and A Blaize Productions, which holds the state license for the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, as defendants.
The complaint, obtained by USA TODAY, accuses the two "powerful institutions" of "weaponizing their social media platforms to deploy (a) catastrophic, global campaign to injure" Boltinhouse by labeling the 27-year-old as a "racist, homophobe, transphobe, and intolerable bigot." Additionally,
the lawsuit says it is not challenging whether the two beauty pageant organizations "had legal authority to remove Brittany's 2026 Miss North Carolina USA crown," which they did immediately after she won it and just weeks before she was to advance to the national Miss USA competition.
A Blaize Productions, in an Aug. 5 statement shared on Instagram, said that Boltinhouse's reign as Miss North Carolina USA 2026 had concluded, calling the decision "difficult." The institution said it based its decision on a "thorough review of recently surfaced information" that did not align with the "integrity of the Miss North Carolina USA title and values of (its) organization."
Thom Brodeur, CEO of Miss USA, also confirmed Boltinhouse's exit in a statement, which in part says that the organization "does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity." Myla Hadley, the first runner-up, will now assume the title Boltinhouse once held and compete at the Miss USA pageant later this month, organizers said.
USA TODAY contacted A Blaize Productions and the Miss USA Organization on Aug. 24 for comment on Boltinhouse's lawsuit.
Here's more on the Miss North Carolina USA legal dispute and drama.
What were the comments that led to Boltinhouse's title being stripped?
According to her lawsuit, Boltinhouse, when she was a teenager in 2017, used a racial slur five times in social media posts. She would then use the same racial slur again in 2019 in a different social media post, the complaint shows.
The complaint blames "online sleuths" for unearthing the posts following Boltinhouse's Miss North Carolina USA win. She also says that she did not mean to offend anyone at the time of her posts, and that her use of the "slang term" in no way is evidence to indicate that she is a "racist, homophobe, transphobe or bigot who should be shunned from public life as (A Blaize Productions and the Miss USA Organization) set about and conspired to cause with their defamatory social media posts."
Boltinhouse, also in the complaint, identified herself as a "mixed race and proud daughter of immigrant parents." She adds that her now-deceased paternal great-grandfather, Antonio Sosa Figueroa, ethnically self-identified all his life as Black, or Afro-Latino Honduran.
She also acknowledged her past support for President Donald Trump and several conservative ideals and politics in the complaint.
What does Brittany Boltinhouse want from the lawsuit?
The complaint seeks jury-determined monetary relief for "all injuries" caused by the defendants' alleged "wrongful conduct," including injury to Boltinhouse's "reputation and standing in the community, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, emotional distress, and loss of professional and economic opportunities."
Who is Brittany Boltinhouse?
Boltinhouse held the title of Miss Wilmington USA before winning the Miss North Carolina USA title on June 28, according to her bio on A Blaize Productions' website.
The 27-year-old is also an entrepreneur who owns two flooring and turf companies, per an interview on The Pageant Project podcast last month.
According to A Blaize Productions, Boltinhouse was both the first married woman and the first woman of Honduran descent to be crowned Miss North Carolina USA.
"Proud of her Honduran and Mexican heritage, Brittany is passionate about empowering others to take risks, pursue their dreams, and create opportunities through entrepreneurship," her bio reads.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dethroned Miss North Carolina USA sues Miss USA, alleges defamation
