Miss America CEO resigns after sexist, offensive emails surface
There he goes, Miss America Organization CEO Sam Haskell.
Haskell had been suspended Friday after a HuffPost story detailed his email correspondence over the years leading the beauty pageant. His leaked emails included many sexist, offensive comments about contestants and winners.
By Saturday afternoon he had resigned.
Board chairman Lynn Weidner also offered her resignation, but she will remain on for up to 90 days to help "facilitate a smooth transition." Weidner had been involved in targeting Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan, whom Haskell and other MAO colleagues had insulted because of her weight after she won the competition.
Weidner had also been vocal in her support for Haskell over the years.
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Before he resigned, Haskell had confirmed that he sent the sexist, vicious emails.
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Former Fox News host and 1989 Miss America winner Gretchen Carlson had also been targeted along with 1998 winner Kate Shindle, who wrote a book in 2014 that criticized the organization's spending, as the emails show. Haskell once wrote how he wished Shindle had died instead of a former winner who passed away of breast cancer.
Carlson has been calling for Haskell's resignation and commented on her and Shindle's behalf when today's announcement was made. She said the move was a first step but "by no means fulfills the need for a thorough housecleaning of the Board."
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The Miss America Organization needs to crown new leadership.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
