Tom Hensley, the CEO of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant, said the Miss America Pageant has been ‘hijacked,’ during a press conference at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, in August, 2018.

Less than five months later, board members of the Miss America Pageant have intentions of moving the Miss Tennessee Pageant to Knoxville.

“They have been bound and determined to take this pageant to Nashville or Knoxville,” said Jerry Gist, mayor of Jackson, “It’s in litigation, for now, but there will be a Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant in Jackson.”

Gist said the winner of the Jackson pageant would not represent the state in the Miss America Pageant.

The economic impact of the pageant in Jackson is about $2 million.

Jimmy Exum, pageant president of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant, which held its 66th annual event in 2018, said he could not comment on the situation.

The controversy around the Miss America Pageant after Cara Mund – the reigning crown holder – sent a letter to former winners has a trickle down effect that’s reached Jackson.

In her letter, Mund stated the rhetoric about empowering women, and openness and transparency, is great; but the reality is quite different – a difference she is living.

In August, Exum said a new regime, headed by Gretchen Carlson, removed all board members, and took over complete control of the Miss America Pageant, a move he said was not representative of what he and the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant have traditionally worked for.

Gretchen Carlson, Miss America, 1989, is an American television commentator, author and the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors.

(PHOTO: Christine Williamson, 2018 winner of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/