By admin 
DUPLIN COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT/WNCN) — Miss North Carolina USA Brittany Boltinhouse has been stripped of her title just over a month after winning the crown and weeks before she was scheduled to represent the state at the national competition.
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Boltinhouse, a Duplin County native who was crowned Miss North Carolina USA after competing as Miss Wilmington, was set to compete at the 75th annual Miss USA pageant later this month in Miami.
A Blaize Productions, the organization that produces the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, announced Wednesday that it had “made the difficult decision to conclude Brittany Boltinhouse’s reign as Miss North Carolina USA 2026.”
The organization said the move came after “careful consideration, multiple conversations, and in consultation with the Miss USA Organization.” It said the move followed “a thorough review of recently surfaced information” and was based on “the totality of the circumstances” and its responsibility to preserve the integrity of the Miss North Carolina USA title and the organization’s values.
A Blaize Productions did not specify what information prompted the decision.
In a separate statement released Wednesday night, Thom Brodeur, chairman and CEO of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA organizations, said the decision was made together with Boltinhouse, her state directors and the Miss USA Organization.
Brodeur said the Miss USA Organization “does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, nor language that strips any person of their dignity.”
He added that what was brought to the organization “was not a single moment” but instead “reflected conduct over an extended period of time.”
“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,” Brodeur said. “When that standard is broken, the title cannot continue as though nothing happened.”
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Brodeur did not identify the specific conduct that led to the decision but said Boltinhouse plans to release her own statement. He said he has reviewed the statement and described it as containing “ownership, accountability and apology.”
While standing behind the decision, Brodeur also urged compassion for Boltinhouse.
“I have never believed that accountability requires cruelty, or that holding a line means enjoying the fall of the person who crossed it,” he said, later adding that “zero tolerance is a standard for conduct” but “not permission to strip someone of their humanity.”
Boltinhouse made history in June as the first married woman and the first woman of Honduran descent to earn the Miss North Carolina USA title.
Under the pageant’s succession procedures, first runner-up Myla Hadley has assumed the title of Miss North Carolina USA 2026 and will replace Boltinhouse as the state’s representative at the Miss USA pageant on Aug. 27.
Both A Blaize Productions and Brodeur asked supporters and the public to extend kindness and respect to Boltinhouse and Hadley during the transition.
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