The 2018 Miss America SHREDS Gretchen Carlson

You know how Gretchen Carlson was all like “Beauty Queens don’t have to wear bathing suits anymore because we’re a super empowered and feminist organization now.”

(…HA.)

Anyway, it looks like her efforts weren’t enough… (or all talk) because 2018 Miss America Cara Mund is calling Gretchen a BIG OL’ BULLY.

MEEEEOW.

According to the New York Post:

Cara Mund, the 2018 winner of the Miss America pageant, has traded in her crown for boxing gloves, blasting higher-ups as nothing more than mean girls who bullied, belittled and muzzled her.

This would obviously make such a good “Devil Wears Prada”-esque movie.

“About two weeks ago, I started researching workplace bullying . . . Ultimately, this is my year in a nutshell,” the former Miss North Dakota wrote to former Miss Americas in a lengthy letter made public Friday.

Part of me wonders if Cara’s being too sensitive? I mean, this IS a beauty pageant after all. There ARE going to be standards on dress and behavior that are expected of the winners who now represent the organization. It’s sorta kinda what you signed up for.

But I’ll hear her out:

“Our chair and CEO have systematically silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis,’’ Mund said, referring to Gretchen Carlson, who chairs the Miss America board of directors, and the pageant’s CEO, Regina Hopper.

HMMMM. Tell me more, Cara.

When they weren’t criticizing her clothes or “accidentally” calling her “Kira” in front of contestants, pageant honchos were one-upping her in front of the cameras, said Mund, 24.

So… they called her Kira instead of Cara. Could be worse…

She seems to think it IS worse.

The Brown University grad said that when she hinted at her unhappiness last month in a newspaper interview, in which she called it “a tough year,” she was immediately retaliated against, with her appearance at next month’s pageant cut to 30 seconds.

Ok… so in an industry that’s all about IMAGE… I wouldn’t expect you to be able to freely talk crap about your employer. I’m not surprised they cut her appearance time.

“I haven’t felt like Miss America for the last eight months, and now, they are even taking away my goodbye,’’ Mund wrote.

…tragic.

She also said she was ripped for daring to wear outfits “too many times” and barred from dressing in pink.

“My tour manager would come into my hotel room and pick out the clothes I was allowed to wear, saying things like, ‘Regina really likes this one,’ or ‘You can’t wear pink. Regina hates pink,’ ” Mund wrote.

“During a photo shoot this year, Regina looked at the Karl Lagerfeld dress I was wearing and said, ‘Yuck. You should burn that. Don’t ever wear that again.’

See… I think this all sounds kinda catty… but not unexpected. Why wouldn’t they be able to determine what she wears when representing THEIR organization? Isn’t that kinda the whole point? I wouldn’t expect the leadership of a BEAUTY PAGEANT to be cool with wearing something unflattering or something they don’t think looks right for their “brand,” you know?

Mund said that while the pageant touts itself as pro-woman and claims to be turning around its sexist image, she has been all but drowned out.

“My voice is not heard nor wanted by our current leadership, nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future,” she wrote.

“The rhetoric about empowering women, and openness and transparency, is great; however, the reality is quite different,” Mund said.

Now THAT is a worthwhile point. She’s right on this one. The organization has been AAAAALL talk about how they’re all about empowering women and so on and so forth. Talk the talk, walk the walk, my friends. You don’t get to spout 24/7 about how women should have a voice in all of this and “strong women” and blah blah blah and then not expect your winner to have a voice or opinion on anything.

And this NEXT part? Well… let’s just say it’s where things REALLY get juicy:

“Right away, new leadership delivered an important message: There will only be one Miss America at a time, and she isn’t me,” she claimed, referring to Carlson’s past as the crown winner in 1989.

“To reinforce this, they told me that I’m not important enough to do big interviews, and that the major press is ‘obviously’ reserved for Gretchen.”

BAHAHAHAHAHA.

Why does this not surprise me AT ALL?!