WATCH: Miss America contestants sound off on Gretchen Carlson and Roger Ailes
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on September 08, 2016 at 1:08 PM, updated September 08, 2016 at 2:58 PM
There she is — Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor and Miss America who took a stand against what she claimed was ongoing sexual harassment from Roger Ailes, the CEO of Fox News, setting in motion a chain of events that saw the executive booted from his lofty post atop the media dynasty he helped create.
Carlson, who left Fox in June after her contract was not renewed, settled her sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes with Fox on Tuesday for $20 million just as the 2017 Miss America pageant was getting underway in Atlantic City. She received an apology from Fox, and, after she filed, other women who came forward with their own claims about Ailes received settlements, too.
Carlson as Miss America 1989. (Tom Patrick/AP)
Between rehearsals for the pageant, which airs on Sunday, Miss America contestants weighed in on Carlson's decision to go public with her harassment claims.
Carlson, 50, who filed suit against Ailes in Bergen County Superior Court in July, won the 1989 pageant title. In her book, "Getting Real," Carlson says she faced unwanted advances from men soon after her Atlantic City crowning in 1988, both from someone who promised to help her with job opportunities and someone she worked with at a local TV station.
Miss New Jersey, Brenna Weick, says she got asked about Carlson at her private interview with the preliminary judges this week.
"I was able to talk about how women right now need to speak out against those kind of things, against oppression and sexual harassment," says Weick, 22, of Mantua, a journalist hopeful herself. "This is a time when women are so empowered. We have a woman on the ticket for our presidency, which is really exciting, and still, things like this are happening, where we're being singled out for things we shouldn't be singled out for and so I think it's really good that she's speaking out against it."
Miss New Jersey also won a Duke of Edinburgh award
Carlson, who says Ailes retaliated against her after she turned down his advances, also says she was demoted at Fox after she complained against mistreatment by another colleague.
"We talk a lot in the (Miss America) organization about how, 'If you can see her, you can be her,' and Gretchen Carlson is a woman who I think a lot of people aspire to be," Weick says. "For her to say, 'No, this is not OK, I'm not going to stand for this,' is really good, I think, for girls of all ages to see."
Other Miss America contestants applauded Carlson, a former Miss Minnesota and Miss America board member, for speaking out, but some said they couldn't be sure what they would've done in her situation.
"I don't know what I would've done in her shoes, but I stand by her," says Miss New York, Camille Sims.
"Because I think women have suffered so much, especially in this regard, of standing up for yourself and being shamed for standing up for yourself," she continues.
"And I don't think it's fair that women have to apologize just for being in the workplace because we make up 48 percent of the workplace and we should feel safe and empowered. And so I stand behind her," says Sims, 23, and alumna of Cornell University. "But if I was in that situation, I would hope that I would stand up for myself and rise to the occasion. But, you know, you never know what's coming into play for her and I'm so happy for her that she found that inner strength, and even though it could have jeopardized her career or caused some kind of backlash, she stood up for herself and started a movement for other women."
Vanity Fair reported Tuesday that Fox News agreed to settle Gretchen Carlson's suit against Former Fox CEO Roger Ailes.
Miss Louisiana, Justine Ker, an aspiring doctor who majored in neuroscience and has deferred from Tulane University School of Medicine to assume her state titleholder duties, also weighed in on Carlson's settlement.
"I thought she did a great job, because we live in a culture and an environment right now of shame," says Ker, 22. "What she has done is an act of bravery and an act of confidence."
Miss Missouri, Erin O'Flaherty, has received more media attention than many other contestants because she is the first openly gay contestant in the pageant's history. She considers Carlson's story a tale of vindication, but thinks it's unfortunate that she had to wait to come forward with her allegations.
"I feel for her because I think she thought if she did speak up many years ago, that it would be at the expense of her career," says O'Flaherty, 23. "And so I really felt sad for her that she waited for so many years. I'm happy for the settlement that she got, but I'm not the kind of person that would take that at this point in my life, so I would move on."
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/09/watch_miss_america_contestants_sound_off_on_gretch.html
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