ABC’s broadcast of Sunday night’s Miss America pageant capped a ceremony rife with politicization, leading to an all-time low in TV ratings.
The Wrap reports that Sunday night’s Miss America pageant was “down 36 percent in the key demo and off 19 percent among overall audience members” compared to last year.
The abysmal broadcast ratings come as Sunday night’s competition featured no swimsuit competition as it did for decades. However, the competition did feature several political messages.
During Thursday’s program, Miss Virginia Emili McPhail commented on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, saying that it is “a right you have.”
“But it’s also not about kneeling; it is absolutely about police brutality,” she also said.
On Friday, Contestant Miss West Virginia Madeline Collins said that President Trump is “the biggest issue facing our country today.”
“Unfortunately he has caused a lot of divide in our country, and until we can trust in him and the choices that he makes for our country, we cannot become united,” she said.
This year’s winner was Nia Imani Franklin who was also Miss New York.
Drama over bullying allegations and Gretchen Carlson, former Miss America and the chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, also made headlines over the summer.
Carlson was accused of bullying behavior by Suzette Charles Charles accused Carlson of “bullying for a long time.”
Miss America 2018 Cara Mund also accused Carlson of bullying, saying, “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.”
Carlson responded at the time on Twitter with a statement denying the allegations.
Please see my statement in full below pic.twitter.com/rvmee4es7g
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) August 20, 2018
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