Here is our new Miss Teen USA. She is Karlie Hay, an 18-year-old. She was Miss Teen Texas. She’s very pretty and she reminds me of a young Julianne Hough. At first, everyone thought the controversy at this year’s Miss Teen USA pageant was going to be that all of the five finalists were about as diverse as a jar of mayonnaise. All five finalist had blonde hair and blue eyes. Which, sure, that happens. Okay. But then people started looking through Karlie Hay’s Twitter account and they were like, “Wow, this young woman sure liked to use the n-word a lot for someone with blonde hair and blue eyes.”
Go here to see some of her (alleged) screencapped tweets – to be fair (????), she’s not tweeting the n-word with, like, #WhitePower or #TexasAryan4Lyfe. These are not malicious or political tweets, per se. She’s a blonde Texan teenager attempting to be “street” and from what I can tell, she’s calling her friends the n-word. I’m also assuming all of her friends are white.
Shortly after she won the Miss Teen USA pageant, Karlie or someone on her team finally got around to deleting those tweets from her @RealMissTXteen account. And then she offered this apology… without ever actually apologizing?
Several years ago, I had many personal struggles and found myself in a place that is not representative of who I am as a person…
— Karlie Hay (@RealMissTXteen) July 31, 2016
I admit that I have used language publicly in the past which I am not proud of and that there is no excuse for. Through hard work…
— Karlie Hay (@RealMissTXteen) July 31, 2016
Through hard work, education and thanks in large part to the sisterhood that I have come to know through pageants, I am proud to say that…
— Karlie Hay (@RealMissTXteen) July 31, 2016
I am today a better person. I am honored to hold this title and I will use this platform to promote the values of…
— Karlie Hay (@RealMissTXteen) July 31, 2016
The Miss Universe Organization, and my own, that recognize the confidence, beauty and perseverance of all women.
— Karlie Hay (@RealMissTXteen) July 31, 2016
Which, if you really parse what she’s saying, isn’t REALLY an apology. She’s saying “Woe is me, I used those words because I was going through a hard time, but please don’t worry about me, I’m fine now that I won Miss Teen USA.” Then again, if she had tweeted “I’m sorry, my bad,” would we have believed her?
The pageant people waited to see what the fallout would be, and then decided to stick with Karlie. This is the pageant’s statement:
“The language Karlie Hay used is unacceptable at any age and in no way reflects the values of The Miss Universe Organization. As Karlie stated, she was in a different place in her life and made a serious mistake she regrets and for which she sincerely apologizes. Karlie learned many lessons through those personal struggles that reshaped her life and values. We as an organization are committed to supporting her continued growth.”
Eh. Is the Miss Teen USA pageant a national therapy session on race in America? No. But I also feel like everyone is bending over backwards to give the pretty blonde girl a second chance, and that’s a second chance that a beauty queen of color would have never gotten. Our current Miss USA is an African-American woman – imagine if Deshauna Barber had a Twitter feed littered with slurs against white people. I imagine the reaction would be much, much different. And that’s my issue – this whole thing is textbook white privilege.
Sweet dreams from #MissTeenUSA. pic.twitter.com/VmU9JsCJ6A
— Karlie Hay (@MissTeenUSA) July 31, 2016
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Trump’s next wife?
😂😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏
LOL! I think we’re done here. 😉
No, cause she’s not foreign born!
No she knows English
I couldn’t pick her out of the million blonde and blue eyed line-up that were runner ups. As far as her n word usage, her apology was some P.R. comedy gold. What personal struggles? Lol. She was living some serious white privilege and vanity filled life simply considering no one and nothing as many head in the clouds girls who DONT have struggles do. She was being not malicious, perhaps, but thoughtless and indifferent as a typical crowd following sheep. She may have kept on using the term if a spotlight wasn’t on her as Imy sure her friends probably still do. It’s just screams ignorance more than anything else. White area, white town, popularity, uneducated, lack of strife, young souls. Street credit means saying the n word and eating an extra calorie. I believe in reincarnation lol. Can’t blame her for what she doesn’t know or understand. But once you Do know better, No excuse. And that lame PR story was pathetic and insulting. Hopefully
she grows a backbone. Nah.
Chrissy Tiegen’s ‘diversity’ tweet about the runners up in this pageant was great.
That made laugh. It looked like the same girl, same hair, same eyes, same face shape.
The response of a lot of people was “well, miss USA is black” as if it changes the fact even for white people that looks like the same person … Time to put an end to these pageants.
I thought they were different pics of the same person until I read the description…
Right? Her tweet almost made me spit out my water I laughed so hard.
I know I’m lazy, but links? Pwease?
https://mobile.twitter.com/chrissyteigen/status/759661045707378688
Omg hilarious. I would have thought it was the same girl, different picture five times had I not known! I can’t even pick the winner out of the group because they are ALL the same?!?! And I’m white and I can’t tell them apart. Also, let this be a lesson to younger generation that that graduate job you worked your butt off for might disappear if you have a crazy online history. And a lesson to parents(because she was so young) to check what the heck your kids are doing on the Internet!!!
Well, she was VERY young in 2013. I definitely said shomw stuff I shouldn’t have in my early teens (not the n-word tho!) and I can relate. With that being said I’m more surprised she wona national pageant – she’s very basic looking IMO.
And she looks so much older now, the make up and fake tan they use is tragic,it ages them so much.
Uh, well, yeah I mean if she was behaving like that in her early teens, her parents deserve some of the blame, but at 18 she should be savvy enough to apologize for being offensive rather than making excuses for herself.
She will get a pass.The mere fact that she did not think it was important to give an actual apology tells me it’s not serious for her, or handlers do not think it’s important.
She’s grown up in four years and it’s just the N-word and blacks use it too. In this current climate, it will not be a big deal.
“it’s just the N-word and blacks use it too”
Just NO.
“She’s grown up in four years and it’s just the N-word and blacks use it too.” >>> Is this sarcasm, Shelly?
I’m being sarcastic but that’s what it will boiled down to.
Whew! Figured I’d clarify. 🙂
So when you get called “bitch” by a man don’t fret since women use that word too.
No…..
Shelly as she said was just being sarcastic. I understood what she meant. Though sarcasm is sometimes hard to read in print. We need a little emoji to signify when we are being sarcastic 🙂
You are absolutely right that the handlers and people in charge don’t think this is important which is why they’re moving on (now will the world/media let them? I don’t know)
What I find fascinating is this little dummy had the time to glue all those eyelashes to her ignorant little head but not to deleted some of those tweets. Priorities honey.
Right?? What a dumb kid!!! One would think that she would have gotten rid of those tweets BEFORE the pageant!!
That they haven’t taken away her “crown,” (the whole pageant thing is hard to take seriously, to be honest) shows that they don’t care. It’s fine, what she did. Because white.
Jay-Z and Beyonce are affiliated with a group that preaches white people are evil devils, and song lyrics that reflect those beliefs. But they got a pass.
What? No they don’t. Proof please. I condemn them if they did. But what does that have to do with ms teen usa? Are you saying it’s ok if what you say about beyonce? Either way both would be wrong
Pick on her for her foul words and that ugly dress..but now, let’s not pick on blondes, hehe. .
I agree. This is so typical. Poor little Texas beauty queen. What was really so bad that you thought it was OK to use that word so openly?! So true that if this was any other race they would have lost the crown. I couldn’t believe the five finalists too! They legit looked like the same person. Are the judges old white southern men?! Probably. So ridiculous. Makes me angry.
I can’t believe beauty pageants still exist in 2016.
The judges were all white.
Not Hilary Cruz.
Personal struggles my ass. You were an idiotic, uneducated little dipshit teenager and clearly, you have learned nothing.
God, pageants really get on my last nerve. I would cry and throw tantrums if my imaginary daughter wanted to participate.
ETA: That is some bad makeup for a beauty queen.
This is why I hated the non-apology apology. She didn’t use the word because she had struggles or was in a ‘bad place’. White people do not use the N word because they are having a bad year or in a personal slump.
She should have been honest (if she even cares) and said that she was young, uneducated & didn’t understand the meaning & ramifications of that word due to her personal experiences (being blonde, young, middle or upper class, sheltered upbringing, being raised without diversity, etc.). She should have said that growing up and the pageant world has, luckily, opened her eyes to the beauty in diversity and the history & ramifications of that word. That would have been a good response imo not “I used the n-word because I was in pain” WTF?!
^^^THIS ^^^ All day, one hundred percent this, MC2. 👏👏👏
Your post is so well written! Great points!
This^^
If she’s from Houston, then she can’t say that she did so because of a lack of diversity. Houston has a large AA population (and new mayor). We are almost equally mixed with Latino, AA and white. To say nothing of our old and established Jewish population and large Asian groups (India, China, Vietnam, etc). Diversity is all around her. I’ve never understood why non-black people love to use that word. Or why they love to call themselves that word.
Very well said. Thanks for that.
She and her handlers still don’t get it. The apology should have been along the lines of ” I was ignorant about how hurtful this language can be and I regret having used that language and have learned it shows a lack or respect. I will not ever use this language again. ”
I wrote that in under a minute. The privilege so inherent in all of them to not recognize how she was an idiot is mind blowing.
Pageants should be eliminated anyway. They simply objectify women and have no real purpose outside of that.
She is saying that she won’t say it again, I think it’s pretty clear that the word is bad/hurtful/wrong. True that she could before educating . Seems she wants it to go away, instead of taking this chance to become (more?) famous and give an incredible apology.
She just looks soo basic. And who are the woc putting the crown on her??
Yeah, she’s not very pretty to me. I went to school with prettier girls than her.
But how many people actually want to be a part of these things?
Jess id assume last year’s winner and or the runners up! Black girl is very pretty and the brunette looks like Selena gomez
No Actually on the black girl is wearing a sash saying miss USA . So that’s who she is, maybe the other girl is last year’s miss teen? I obviously don’t watch pageants, pretty sure the runners up don’t put the sash on winners actually, my bAd
Right? This is what is considered the best teen? Actually, I don’t know what pageants are supposed to be picking, other than the best pageant-er, as in the most willing to jump through hoops designed by someone else’s notion of beauty. Looks like this particular pageant was going for, “Most likely to be a Fox News fembot.”
We’re still doing teen pageants?
Was she competing in pageants back then? If she was she should have been disqualified back then for it and maybe lose her crown today for it as well.
I just see stupidity here
I really have no expectations of a family that raised their daughter to show her wares and be judged like cattle to actually have any sensitivity, or educate her.
The deeper and more troubling issue is that these competitions still exist.
Man…she didn’t even use the -a version, she went with the -er version.
It’s crazy how carelessly and easily some people can use that word. I have such a strong aversion to that word, I can’t even bring myself to type it.
Ugh, same here. My grandparents used it often and even as a child it pissed me off. I have my parents to thank for not perpetuating that word and encouraging us to explore diverse friendships. This girl should have known better.
Same. I’m a black woman and I do not use the word in either form nor do I let anyone use it to reference me either. Someone made that mistake once thinking we were friends and they met my fist. I have such an aversion to is. I get why some use it to reclaim it but yea not around me you don’t.
Shame on her and yay for privilege because she probably learned nothing just like Iggy didn’t. Screenshots are forever
Iggy came to mind for me as well. SMDH.
Nicole, please tell me it was another black person? Don’t tell me a non black person thought to call you that in a friendly way?!
Same. I rolled my eyes so hard when Larry Wilmore pulled that crap at the Correspondents Dinner.
Both. One white guy who thought being friends with me was a pass (NOPE) and one black girl.
The blackout rage was real
I know! I can’t even say that word when repeating something someone else said and they just let it roll off their tongue.
I got in trouble in my high school for not actually saying the entire word while reading an old novel. I would say ‘n-word’ when that word came onto the page. I got kicked out of my all white, middle to upper class English lit class for that. The day that we discussed welfare was the end for me. I’m not sure I ever went back. Still okay with it.
Usage of that word is my harbinger for social intelligence (intelligence in general) and whether or not I will waste time in my life with that person.
That dress is ugly. Really ugly.
And shame on you for using that word.
America is becoming “greater” by the second.
How are these pageants still a thing? Who watches them on TV? Seriously – what is the demographic?
Trump voters.
So, we still live in a world where teen girls are paraded around and ranked for their achievement of conventional beauty standards?
I just feel like that is the least of our problems right now. If a teenager wants to be in a beauty pageant because they like to dress up and get recognition for being beautiful, then that’s on them. That’s a choice they decided to make, and it is available as a choice. Women in the US have been afforded the privilege to not view this as our only avenue. However, she just got a pass for using the word n****r. A public figure, who’s entire role is to appear wholesome, make appearances for positive causes and speak to young women in a positive light.
Well, I already commented above on the first issue, so this comment was secondary, but beauty pageants are not just harmless fun. As has been discussed on many many threads, as long as men are evaluated on their intellect and abilities over their physical appeal, there will always be a power imbalance if women prioritize appealing to the male gaze over intellectual development.
Since we’ve well established that this young woman is not well informed about the world, and is getting a pass on her behavior because of her looks, it’s important to note that these issues are connected.
I said it was the least of our problems. I did not see your other post, thanks for the clarification, however, my stance still stands. Pageants in and of themselves is another argument that is actually separate from her getting a pass because she is beautiful. She isn’t given a get out of jail free card because she is a Miss Teen, she is given a pass because she is a young, pretty, stereotypical girl who is allowed in a public forum to get anyway with her speech because she is allowed to be infantilized due to her race and looks. We disagree (which is fine) because you see it as intertwined and I do not, pageants for some woman can provide opportunities depending on who that woman is and what her goals are. So in my opinion, the issue of pageants is not the same as her white beauty giving her a pass– it’s a vehicle for another issue.
It has nothing to do with her being beautiful. I’m surrounded by people I consider beautiful and greatly respect. It has to do with coifing young women and parading them around like animals at market, being sold off for their meat. Racial equality is extremely important and her behavior is abhorrent, but it’s not a contest between what matters more, racial or gender equality. Both matter and treating women as vacant vessels for male amusement is not less offensive than racial slurs.
The top 5 had blonde hair and blue eyes. So there’s that.
WHAT DECENT WHITE PERSON USES THIS WORD?
Ahem. Sorry. This bothers me.
It’s ok. I agree
Young people use this word all the time. It doesn’t have the same connotation to them as it does to us. They grew up hearing this word spoken freely from kids in school and in popular music. If we don’t want to hear this word anymore, then everyone needs to stop using it.
Nope. No. I’m not buying that.
I grew up in white suburbia, listening to hip hop that frequently featured this word.
And no, we NEVER used it. Ever. Not casually or otherwise. Because we knew better. Don’t tell me that white kids today don’t know that this isn’t an ok word to use.
@Kitten
I have to agree with you, for the mostpart. There are exceptions (I hear it in the City). Kind of permission from their black friends when they’re in that group (I don’t know if I’m explaining this correctly). Karlie Hay, DEFINITELY, DOES NOT fall into that group. It’s an ugly word that she had no business using to address anyone.
I’m so sick of having to edit the word, though. It exists. It’s in literature. It has a history and a definition. We should be able to say or type it when we’re discussing the word/definition itself, and, not using it as an epithet.
This, Kitten. There’s no excuse. I’m only 26 – there was not some magical change that happened in the last decade where the connotation of this word changed.
It’s unacceptable. It was 100% unacceptable when I was a teen. It was 100% unacceptable when Karlie was using it.
I’m not a robot. If I hear a word I don’t just repeat it. I am a human who is capable of thought and evaluation. That argument is so ridiculously sad and completely wrong that I don’t even know where else to go with it.
No ,no and no. This isn’t about millennials. There are plenty who’d never use that word.
Yea nope.
Nope, every white kid I’ve ever hung out with went wild listening to a song with it would immediately blush and freak out when the n part came on if I was in the car because they knew exactly what that word meant and what it would mean using it in the car while I was with them.
Exactly. My tween discusses a lot of social issues with us, politics, etc. and is keenly aware of racism. He can’t even use the word when quoting / referencing something said by another person. It’s just not in him, and he gets furious when anyone, friends included, try to justify it by saying it’s acceptable to use when you are being “street” with your buddies. He knows that is a stupid explanation.
I even have trouble when I hear POC using it but have learned that if POC want to re-take the word and make it their own, I am not in a position to judge that. It still bothers me, and I hate it, and if anyone white uses it around me, they are in for trouble.
I’m 22. I’m white. I grew up in the suburbs. We knew not to say the n word.
White kids who use the word know it’s wrong. They just don’t care. There is no difference on meaning. Don’t even try that argument as an excuse.
Horseshit. If you are white, you do not use this word ever. It doesn’t matter if it is being used in rap songs. Young people know that even more than they did 30 years ago. Only racists think that it is acceptable to use it.
And saying it is okay to use it because black people may use it is also bullshit. As a white person, the one privilege you do not have is using that word.
If she looks “teen”, no wonder so many commenters call Ariana Grande’s look too disturbingly young. In the U.S, the young and old both want to look perpetually 25 it seems.
That’s categorically false, obviously. But even if it were true, so what?
You know the pageant ship is sinking when Drumfp sells it off….
I think he sold his pageant only because he had to. Univision cut all ties to him after the “Mexicans are rapists and murderers” comment.
Wish she would elaborate on what personal struggles compel someone to use the n with casual and gleeful abandon…
I have had some serious personal struggles: family issues, health problems, job loss, but who knew that saying the n-word would help???
LMAOOOOOO!!!!!
Damn it, Pedro. I didn’t want to laugh on this thread!
See, I have a problem with the whole article and some posts. Do you not see your hypocrisy? Basic as mayonnaise…blued-eyed blonde? That explains it? So, if she’d been Asian or Hispanic or anything other (because, yes, stupidity exists across all races, ethnicities, religions. No-one has an exclusive patent on it)…that’d be different? What would’ve been her desciption HAD she been Asian or Hispanic? I’d like to hear your substitutes for/alternatives to mayonaisse. You’re pulling the same crap. Blanket statements regarding race are ignorant and offensive no matter who says them.
She’s an idiot. PERIOD. The apology was the usual meaningless word salad that had nothing to do with anything. It was one of the stupidest jumble of words I’ve read…Don’t even get me started on how I feel about pageants period.
Note to posters: Don’t lecture me on racism. I understand. I’m not an idiot. I don’t live under a rock.
Yeah I actually kinda hear you on this. I’m not getting mad about the mayonnaise/Becky/whitebread comments but at the same time, I don’t see why people feel compelled to go there. I think you can easily make the point about how idiotic her statements were without defaulting to stereotypes.
Thank you, it lowers the tone of the entire conversation.
Agree with this. Oatmeal , vanilla , basic …these sound mean
What’s it gonna take for pageants to end? For the most part NO ONE cares, and the winners have a mess of problems anyway. Either start actually rewarding brains to in these competitions or 🎶cut it🎶
If a teen of color had won, and had old tweets calling her friends crackers and b**ches, there would be a lot more hoo-hah. Cleaning up your feeds ought to be in Pageant 101!
Why is it so hard for people in the US to NOT do stupid sh*t? It’s like a genuine struggle for many people. Having a bad day or year? Out comes the racism and racist language. Yep, that makes sense to me. Glad she overcame her struggle. What an amazing courageous lady! Role model!
/S
Between the dress, tan and tweets I’m sure she’s a really intelligent young woman who has learned her lesson from this and will never refer to her white pals by the n word ever again.
I’m sure her environment had nothing to do with her usage of the word and I’m sure the pagaent people would have treated any other girl just the same because it’s about encouraging all the young ladies to – hold on. Gotta spit. It’s hard talking with this much crap coming out of your mouth.
Not sure how Donald Trump always pulls it off, man must be a walking toilet bowl.
I have my tiny violin out for all the white people who’ve had to suffer the oppression & injustice of not being “allowed” to use a racist, dehumanising slur*. May the history books remember your suffering, one day, you too shall overcome :-(.
*before you bore me with the tired old “well if it’s so racist, no one should use it” bs , remember that you’re on a website called celeBITCHy. As a black ( though not AfrAm) woman, I have mixed feelings about both the n-word and the b-word. But it’s not my place to tell other black people/ women how to cope with white supremacist &/patriarchal violence (yes, slurs are a form of violence & reclaiming slurs is and has always been a coping strategy). If your people have never been at the receiving end of the physical & psychological violence that comes with the slur, you have no right to use it. The End.
I don’t understand why it is so bad, when a white person uses this word, black rappers use that word the whole time.
There’s a Big difference between a black person using it and a white. Historically White people using it have been in the position of slavemaster or using it to downgrade a person. Like i will call myself a b@tch, but if someone else does oh h@ll no.
Sometimes you have to go with how you feel…and this just feels very ugly to me. Backward and forward.
The whole pageant system should have gone away when Burt Parks died.
It’s not even a year since Trump sold Miss Universe organization (which includes Miss USA and Miss Teen USA to WME/IMG.
The purpose of the contest is to draw young women into entertainment organizations. They’ve proven time and again that their primary goal is to promote a particular ideal of beauty that they believe will sell, and nothing else.
As a large, for-profit company, they should be doing a much better job of vetting candidates. It’s unacceptable to give her a pass–as if racist language is just something we all do when we’re young. I think their PR explanation is woefully inadequate. It’s a lazy way out, to avoid having to bear the expense of booting her.
You can contact them with your opinion here:
http://www.missuniverse.com/members/staff
Justin Beiber was also given a pass for saying the “n” word in a video from a few years ago. I don’t understand how this works. How does the public decide who gets a pass and who doesn’t? Some celebs lose their careers, and others have nothing happen to them. I just don’t get it.
What is that horrid My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding bridesmaid, Prom From Hell monstrosity she is wearing?!?
I went to a cattle show one time at the county fair. I also went to a pageant….about the same thing
Great point about getting a pass. I find this person should get a pass (after an apology) because she was young. How about Madonna and GOOP. Love goop but she shouldn’t have tweeted nga in Paris. And she is educated. She didn’t finish her degree but got to fourth year unless I’m wrong. Very clumsy. And Madonna is from Detroit. All her street cred from music doesn’t excuse her she’s old (but not old enough for that to be the excuse) and she knows Better. My husband (Asian) is into online gaming. Fag , the n word and rape culture terms are prevalent in the online game chat box. I don’t think my husband uses the n word there but I don’t know if I’ve asked, now I’m thinking I should. And I’m wondering if this makes gay and black people feel less welcome in online gaming.
Wow, she gives me a Tonya Harding vibe.
Being a teenager going through a rough time is no excuse. I knew not to use the word early on in my life and never have. She shouldn’t get let off the hook so easily for this. Especially with her vague non apology.
I agree with you Amanda. She cries a my bad and all is forgiven. When they put up the mirage of all the blondes together, you couldn’t differentiate them. Nothing against blondes, I am one, but it seemed hinky. I don’t now and never have understood the meaning of a beauty pageant to begin with. This chick has more than one secret under her tiara, just have a feeling.
Hold up – so any pageant contestant who was forced to vacate her crown over things they did in the past when they were “in a different place int heir lives” is going to sue the shit out of their respective pageant right?
I am not a pageant supporter but I know girls/women have had to give up their crown because pictures came out of them kissing a girl but this bitch gets to drop the n word because “she was in a bad place” (like WTF does that even mean?!>?) and keeps her crown?
Yeah this whole thing needs to be cancelled ASAP. At least they changed the bathing suit portion for Miss Teen to “Active wear” but still. Anyone who still thinks these are still good for “scholarship opportunities” needs stop with that nonsense.
WOW, they should crown someone else! Also it depends on how she used the N word at the age of 15 some teens both black and white talk like that to each other. If she used it in a hate way than no she should not have the crown, we have enough problems as it is. Don’t they get tired of picking the same old blondes over and over. There were many more that were a lot prettier than she was.
What a cop out. I’m white, grew up on the other side of the world, in suburbia, a million years ago.
YOU DO NOT USE THE N WORD. Ever. In any context.
For a millennial to claim it as “whoops” moment, or “I didn’t realise” is complete crapola.
Honestly, I think the other two girls in the last pic are WAY prettier that that “beauty queen”