Former Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse Speaks Out After Being Dethroned Over Alleged Conduct Violation
Runner-up Myla Hadley has now assumed the Miss North Carolina USA 2026 crown and will represent the state at Miss USA later this month.
NEED TO KNOW
- Brittany Boltinhouse issued public comments after the Miss USA Organization stripped her of the Miss North Carolina USA 2026 title on August 5, citing conduct that violated its standards.
- In an interview posted August 7, Boltinhouse said she believes her removal was tied to her identity as a “conservative Christian woman,” while noting a confidentiality agreement prevents her from detailing what led to the decision.
- Myla Hadley, the pageant’s original runner-up, has assumed the title and will represent North Carolina at Miss USA on August 27.
Brittany Boltinhouse is addressing her removal from the Miss North Carolina USA title for the first time.
The Miss USA Organization announced on Tuesday, August 5, that Boltinhouse would no longer hold the Miss North Carolina USA 2026 crown. Thom Brodeur, chairman and CEO of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, said the decision was reached jointly by the titleholder, her state directors, and the national organization, following conduct the organization determined violated its standards.
Boltinhouse broke her silence on the matter in an interview with Carolina Journal editor-in-chief Donna King, posted to YouTube on Friday, August 7. Asked whether she believed her conservative political and social values had worked against her in the pageant, Boltinhouse didn’t hesitate to affirm her identity. “I’m proud of my standards. I’m a proud conservative woman, but a Christian woman. I’m a God-fearing woman,” she said.
Boltinhouse also noted that a confidentiality clause she’d signed limited what she could reveal about the circumstances behind her removal. Even so, she struck a resolved tone about the experience. “I’m very much at peace and I’m actually glad it happened to me and not some other young lady that, you know, maybe just probably wouldn’t make it through what I’m going through right now,” she said. “The scrutiny, my family behind it as well. But I will say that I’m very much at peace and I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know who I am and I know what I can become.”
Pressed further on whether she saw conservative political beliefs as a liability within the pageant system, Boltinhouse said she didn’t believe that was inherently the case. “No, I think that in any system, not just in pageantry, I think you have the right to be a conservative in this country,” she said. “It’s a constitutional right.” When King asked more specifically whether support for President Donald Trump was viewed as disqualifying within the organization, Boltinhouse was less definitive. “I don’t know. I don’t know. All I can say from the information that I have today and what I believe and I think is honestly I don’t know,” she said, adding, “I wasn’t really given anything.” She reiterated her core belief regardless: “All I can say is that I think and believe that my title was ripped from me because of my beliefs.”
Boltinhouse, who is from Beulaville, North Carolina, was crowned Miss North Carolina USA on June 28 just over a month before the organization removed her. Brodeur’s initial statement announcing her removal didn’t specify the exact conduct involved, but it drew a firm line on what the organization would tolerate. “[The organization] does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity,” he wrote, adding, “That is not a policy written for a press release. It is the floor of what it means to represent this brand.” He went on to describe the responsibility that comes with holding a state title: “A title here isn’t 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. When that standard is broken, the title cannot continue as though nothing happened.”
Brodeur clarified that the decision wasn’t prompted by one isolated incident. “What was brought to us was not a single moment,” he said. “It reflected conduct over an extended period of time. That is why this outcome was reached, and I stand behind it without qualification.” He also acknowledged having seen a statement from Boltinhouse that he described as containing “ownership, accountability and apology,” adding, “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 closed with an optimistic note about her path forward: “I believe the best you have to offer this world is ahead of you.”
Brodeur also confirmed that Myla Hadley, who had placed as runner-up in the original pageant, would step into the Miss North Carolina USA 2026 title with the organization’s “full confidence and our support.” Hadley is now set to represent the state at the Miss USA competition on August 27, taking the spot originally meant for Boltinhouse in what has quickly become one of the more closely watched storylines heading into this year’s national pageant.
