Brittany Boltinhouse, the 27-year-old Wilmington resident who made history in June as the first married woman and first woman of Honduran descent to win the Miss North Carolina USA title, has been stripped of her crown after old social media posts resurfaced. First runner-up Myla Hadley will now represent the state at the Miss USA pageant, with only weeks to prepare for a competition she wasn't originally expecting to attend.
Boltinhouse was crowned Miss North Carolina USA on June 28 at the Spartanburg Marriott Hotel in Spartanburg, South Carolina, a venue the pageant moved to in 2025 after more than two decades in Charleston, according to Wikipedia. She is a native of Duplin County who has since built a career in Wilmington as chief executive officer of Floor Masters NC, according to the Dallas Voice. Her win drew attention in part because recent rule changes within the Miss USA system opened the competition to married women for the first time.
A Blaize Productions, the company that runs the Miss North Carolina USA pageant, announced it had stripped Boltinhouse of the title following what it described as a thorough review of recently surfaced information, according to WOAI. The organization said in a statement that people are capable of growth and accountability, but also stressed that leadership carries a unique responsibility. Neither A Blaize Productions nor Miss USA leadership has publicly specified exactly what Boltinhouse posted.
National Leadership Weighs In
Thom Brodeur, chairman and CEO of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, supported the decision to remove Boltinhouse's title and said state titleholders are screened at the local level. He confirmed, per the same report from the seed story, that the removal reflected conduct over an extended period of time rather than a single incident, a point he reiterated separately to the Washington Times. Brodeur said the organization does not tolerate racism, homophobia, transphobia, or language that strips away someone's dignity.
Brodeur became chairman and CEO after BDE Miss USA, LLC acquired exclusive license rights to the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants from the Miss Universe Organization in September 2025, according to a Miss Universe Organization press release. That leadership change came alongside A Blaize Productions taking over state-level pageant operations across four Southern states — Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina — under founder Ariana Blaize, a former Miss Universe Guyana, according to the company's own press materials.
Alleged Posts Reportedly Date Back Years
Per the seed story, outlet NCBeat reported that Boltinhouse's alleged posts, made under the username Sosa the Stallion, used a racial slur and dated back to 2017 through 2019. Boltinhouse is expected to release a statement addressing ownership and accountability for the posts, according to the same report, though as of this writing that statement had not been made public.
A Fast Turnaround for the New Titleholder
Myla Hadley, a 24-year-old who competed as Miss Charlotte and finished as first runner-up, will now assume the Miss North Carolina USA title and compete at Miss USA later this month. Hadley said on Instagram that she faces a two-week turnaround before representing North Carolina on the national stage, according to Cosmopolitan. The 75th annual Miss USA pageant is scheduled for August 27 in Miami, Florida, according to The Guardian, meaning Hadley has only about three weeks total to prepare after a sudden change in circumstances.
A History of Friction Within the State Pageant
This is not the first time A Blaize Productions has faced public scrutiny over its handling of the North Carolina competition. During the August 2025 pageant, runner-up Preslie Ross threatened legal action against the company, alleging officials had improperly overruled judge scores, according to the Post and Courier. Pageant leaders denied any wrongdoing at the time, saying Ross had been penalized for rule infractions.
North Carolina has produced three national Miss USA winners over the pageant's history — Chelsea Cooley in 2005, Kristen Dalton in 2009, and Cheslie Kryst in 2019 — all of whom went on to place in the top 10 at Miss Universe, according to Wikipedia. Whatever happens in Miami this month, Hadley steps into a role with a track record of national success, even as questions remain about how the state pageant vets its titleholders before they ever reach the stage.
