Gretchen Carlson, the newly appointed Chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, appeared on Friday promised a “tsunami” of “potentially big changes” to the pageant following harassment accusations that led to the resignation of its CEO last month.
In an interview with Amy Robach on “Good Morning America” on Friday, the 1989 Miss America winner and former Fox News host described her new role as chairwoman a “call of duty,” and said she plans to update the pageant’s format to “empower women.”
“I have so many great ideas for this organization, and I will be talking about those with all the other board members and the eventual CEO of Miss America and staff of Miss America,” Carlson said. “So what I would love to say about that is, please stay tuned, because I plan to make this organization 100 percent about empowering women. Changes are coming — potentially big changes.”
Carlson settled a lawsuit with ex-Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in 2016, and on the strength of the #MeToo movement, Carlson felt compelled to take the chairwoman role.
She was one of the former winners targeted and demeaned in the leaked emails correspondences between former CEO Sam Haskell and other board members that ultimately led to their resignation.
Carlson was named chairwoman of the Miss America Organization on Jan. 1.
“I find that incredibly empowering,” she said. “Some of the women who were allegedly maligned in those appalling emails are now running the place. It’s a form of justice.”