Brittany Boltinhouse no longer holds the Miss North Carolina USA title. Miss USA CEO Thom Brodeur says her conduct broke pageant standards.
Old accounts under a different name surfaced online a month ago, and the fallout has now cost a pageant winner her title. The organization’s chief had plenty to say about how it handled things.
Miss USA CEO Thom Brodeur confirms Brittany Boltinhouse violated pageant conduct standards
Brittany Boltinhouse no longer holds the Miss North Carolina crown. The Miss North Carolina USA 2026 winner lost the title roughly a month after old social media accounts attributed to her resurfaced online.
Thom Brodeur, who leads the organization, addressed the matter Wednesday. He said Boltinhouse agreed to step down after her conduct fell short of what the pageant expects from titleholders.
The Miss USA CEO statement avoided specifics about what she wrote. He did make the organization’s position plain, saying it “does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia nor language that strips any person of their dignity.”
Details came instead from NC Beat, which reported the allegations. The outlet said Boltinhouse posted racially charged content under the alias Sosa the Stallion between 2017 and 2019. Those posts allegedly included repeated use of a racial slur, alongside her describing herself as toxic.
Moreover, Thom Brodeur explained how he reached the decision. The behavior stretched across an extended period rather than amounting to a single lapse, he said. He also stressed that he acted on the information as soon as it reached him.
He framed the title itself as carrying weight beyond the sash. A Miss USA crown is not a trinket, he said, but a position of trust his organization grants and a woman accepts by holding herself to certain standards publicly.
However, Brodeur also pushed back against pile-ons. He noted Boltinhouse remains “still a human being” who has been “named, examined, and judged in public in a way that most of us would not survive.” She has a family and years ahead of her, he said, arguing that accountability never requires cruelty or celebrating anyone’s downfall.
He added that he has already read a statement she plans to release. In it, she apologizes and takes ownership of her conduct.
Meanwhile, the title has a new holder. Brodeur announced that Myla Hadley becomes Miss North Carolina USA 2026, and said she has the organization’s “full confidence and our support.”
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