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30/08/2018
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Updated 11:01 PM; Posted 10:30 PM
By Amy Kuperinsky akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
As Atlantic City celebrated the arrival of 51 Miss America contestants on Thursday, a band played the classic Bell Biv DeVoe song "Poison."
"It's oh so beautiful / relationships they seem from the start," a singer crooned, echoing Ricky Bell's famous line. "It's all so deadly / when love is not together from the heart."
The lyrics had the unintended effect of highlighting the rift that has torn the pageant apart.
In one camp sat Miss America 2018, Cara Mund, and her mother, Delora Kautzmann-Mund, who made the trip from North Dakota.
In another stood Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America board of trustees, and Regina Hopper, CEO of the Miss America Organization. Both executives -- Carlson, a former Fox News host, is Miss America 1989 and Hopper is a former Miss Arkansas -- are architects of the pageant's controversial decision to nix the Miss America swimsuit competition.
But the swimsuits haven't been the only sore point for critics of the decision.
Earlier this month, Mund, 24, sent a detailed letter to a group of former Miss Americas that alleged Carlson, Hopper and the Miss America leadership had bullied, silenced and disregarded her for months. Carlson denied her claims.
Miss America 2019: Contestants arrive in Atlantic City amid pageant unrest
The new contestants, including Miss New Jersey, Jaime Gialloreto, filtered into Kennedy Plaza on the boardwalk wearing no crowns but sporting new black-and-white sashes designed to match a "Miss America 2.0" rebranding effort. As the 95-degree heat melted her makeup, the chestnut-haired Mund, her crown glinting in the punishing sun, flashed her vibrant smile.
"There she is," Carlson said, addressing the crowd with the pageant's "vision" statement. "Miss neurosurgeon. Miss social activist. Miss jet pilot. Miss investigative journalist. Miss expert coder. Miss CEO. Miss whatever she wants to be."
Hopper buzzed about the new stage design.
"It is incredible," she said. "It is different and you're going to love it."
Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam spoke like a true pageant fan.
"Atlantic City is not a city without Miss America," he said.
But under that shiny surface, the tension only continued to build.
Just before the scheduled ceremony on Thursday, an attorney for Mund sent a letter to an attorney for the pageant firing the latest shot in the Miss America feud that has threatened to consume the event as it gets underway in Atlantic City. (The pageant will be broadcast live from Boardwalk Hall on Sept. 9. Preliminary competition starts after Labor Day.)
A note sent by Carlson, Hopper and the board dated August 24 said that an internal review of Mund's allegations would be conducted "using a neutral outside facilitator."
Gretchen Carlson, chairwoman of the Miss America board, at left, and pageant CEO Regina Hopper, at right, at the Miss America arrival ceremony. At front: Miss America, Cara Mund. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
The latest letter, written by Roger Haber, Mund's lawyer, sent to the attorney for the pageant, said that his firm was contacted on Tuesday about the review, which a representative called "a neutral and confidential fact-finding" inquiry into the claims in Mund's letter.
Haber said Mund's letter had detailed a "corrosive work environment" for the reigning Miss America. But he took issue with the inquiry's claim of confidentiality, since the person who contacted Haber, said the Miss America Organization would then be free to release the results.
"If you independently determine the findings favor the MAO (Miss America Organization), you will release those findings," Haber wrote. "Conversely, if they favor Ms. Mund, I suspect that the changes of the findings seeing the light of day are next to nil."
Swimsuits are no longer part of the Miss America pageant. Miss New Jersey, Jaime Gialloreto, will compete for the 2019 crown on Sept. 9, but opposes the decision. Meanwhile, a civil war between Miss America executives, the reigning Miss America, state pageants and former titleholders has consumed the pageant.
Haber asked that Carlson and Hopper resign their duties temporarily for the investigation and demanded that the pageant hire an independent law firm to conduct the review, and that the results be made public.
The Miss America leadership is "attempting to bully my client into a speedy and unfavorable outcome for her," he wrote. He said he suggested scheduling a meeting for the review after the pageant is over on Sept. 9, but the organization is now requiring that the investigation be completed by this weekend, before pageant week officially begins.
When asked about her lawyer's letter at the ceremony, Mund, who has called herself a whistleblower, rarely let her permasmile slip. She continually insisted on directing attention back to the contestants in this year's pageant.
"I just want it to be the best experience possible for the new Miss America," she said, again redirecting, this time to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the pageant's founding (in 1921).
"I'm very grateful for the support that I've had, but again, this week is all about our 51 women," she said.
Mund is far from the only one who has expressed opposition to the current pageant leadership. In recent weeks, a group of 19 former Miss Americas started a petition calling for the resignation of Hopper and Carlson, claiming they misled the Miss America board about why swimsuits could no longer be a part of the pageant.
Before that, 22 state pageant directors sought the resignation of Carlson, Hopper and the whole board.
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