Miss America Gets Woke, Goes Broke: Pageant Blasted For 'Terrible' Production, Lack Of Swimsuits

The 100th Miss America pageant turned into a "dumpster fire" and looked like a "botched rehearsal," according to those who even knew the competition was taking place Thursday night on NBC's Peacock streaming service. The once-iconic pageant has seen its TV ratings tank since 2018 when it announced contestants would no longer appear in swimsuits and evening gowns as organizers pushed to join the woke movement.

Miss America wasn't done by slashing swimsuits and evening gowns. The organization also announced in 2018 that it would no longer call it a pageant. Instead, it's now a "competition."

Fast-forward to Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut where Emma Broyles, Miss Alaska took home the crown and a $100,000 scholarship after beating out a top-10 that included three violin players. Viewers claimed the show was a "disaster" that looked "unorganized, ill-planned" and was a "mess" with "horrendous commentary."

Those watching -- an all-time low of 4.3 million watched the 2018 Miss America without swimsuits and gowns & now the pageant has been relegated to Peacock -- noted how there were no flowers, judges had to correct the host and it was a "technical mess."

"I will defend #missamerica (with a critical eye on its shortcomings) until my dying breath BUT this production is a MESS! I feel bad for the candidates," one viewer wrote.

"It was a total cluster, like absolute amateur hour in the production value. Miss Alabama (Miss Auburn, btw, who was first runner-up) had to do her talent out of number order & then perform twice because they messed up the audio the first time. Horrible emcees, just bad overall," noted another.

In the end, it was Miss Alaska taking home the crown over Miss Alabama even after she had to do her talent TWICE. Broyles is the first Miss Alaska to win the national title in the history of the event.

"She was robbed. Also this pageant was just awful. I miss the days of real pageantry. Sigh. Miss Alabama you were beautiful tonight and full of grace. Handled that s--t show better than most," a viewer tweeted after learning that Lauren Bradford finished in second place.

While technical issues hounded the production team, Miss America organizers were also being blasted for their stance on its continued ban on swimsuits and evening gowns.

"As a massive #missamerica fan…the competition has gone so far away from what the 4 points on the crown stand for..service, style, scholarship, success. I miss swimsuit & evening gown..it’s not even a 'job' anymore because they lost all sponsors. 0 branding and appearances now," a female viewer tweeted.

We'll continue to hunt for videos of the talent contest until we find the violin technical mess. Stay tuned for updates.

Written by
Joe Kinsey is the Senior Director of Content of OutKick and the editor of the Morning Screencaps column that examines a variety of stories taking place in real America. Kinsey is also the founder of OutKick’s Thursday Night Mowing League, America’s largest virtual mowing league. Kinsey graduated from University of Toledo.