Vossische Zeitung - Miss USA CEO Denies Defamation Claims in Response to Former Miss North Carolina Lawsuit

The Miss USA organization and its chief executive, Thom Brodeur, have filed a vigorous legal response to a defamation lawsuit brought by former Miss North Carolina Brittany Boltinhouse, asserting that their public statements regarding her removal from the competition were protected expressions of opinion.

Court documents obtained by TMZ reveal that Brodeur and pageant leadership strongly contested Boltinhouse’s legal claims. They argued that their official announcement did not explicitly name Boltinhouse in a defamatory manner. Furthermore, they maintained that even if her identity was implied, the statements constituted non-actionable opinion rather than factual assertion.

The organization also emphasized that Boltinhouse had previously admitted to using racist slurs in her past social media posts, characterizing her lawsuit as baseless given this admission. The legal dispute stems from Boltinhouse’s removal from the Miss USA pageant, which was scheduled for August 2026. She had been named Miss North Carolina in June 2026 but was stripped of her title after old social media posts containing racial slurs surfaced.

Boltinhouse has alleged that the organization removed her for multiple reasons beyond the language controversy. She claimed the decision was influenced by her attendance at a rally held by President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, as well as her online posts regarding the Tate brothers and a tribute to Charlie Kirk.

In its official statement announcing Boltinhouse’s removal, Miss USA declared that it does not tolerate racism, homophobia, or transphobia, nor any language that strips a person of their dignity. While Boltinhouse did not dispute the decision to remove her from the competition, she contends that the organization’s public narrative falsely portrayed her as a racist.

Boltinhouse has not yet responded to the latest legal filing from the Miss USA organization.

H.Schmidt--VZ