Only a week into her reign and the new Miss America is under some pretty big controversy after an anonymous source claimed Kira Kazantsev was kicked out of her sorority for harsh hazing!
The source said Kira reportedly called the new pledges horrible names, berated for their physical appearance, etc.
That’s a pretty intense allegation to make about a person who spoke out during the pageant about protecting women from domestic violence.
While the slanderous claims are untrue, Kira found herself on Good Morning America denying the claims and explaining what really happened.
It basically turned out to be a terrible joke gone horribly wrong.
The New York native explained on-air:
“All I can do is sit here and be honest and share that, yes, I was involved under the broad definition of hazing at some point but never ever in a million years what this is claiming to hold.
I was asked by a New Member Educator when I was a senior to reach out to the alumni base to have an event of sorts. In the email I basically made a joke and that was taken out of context and forwarded to the national office.
[When asked what the joke was] “That we would make the evening scary for the pledges when that never came to fruition and none of those things that I’ve been accused of ever happened or were ever intended to happen.”
At least the girl was honest and open about what really happened! She could’ve denied the whole thing, admitting to being a part of the hazing process took guts.
However, the 23-year-old blonde bombshell doesn’t have to worry about her title being revoked because the Miss America Organization is standing by her.
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They released a statement about the issue and basically said there are a ton of other incredible achievements that Kira accomplished and shouldn’t be overshadowed by the ridiculous claims at hand.
The Miss America Organization wrote:
“Kira has been fully transparent with the Miss America Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority. It’s unfortunate that this incident has been exploited to create a storyline that distracts from what we should be focusing on: Kira’s impressive academic achievements at Hofstra University, including earning a triple major from the Honors College, and her commitment to serving her community. Kira is an exceptional ambassador for the Miss America Organization, and we are excited to be a part of her journey as a force for good across our nation, promoting education and service and working to empower young women.”
Let’s hope she and everyone else can put this situation behind them and move forward.
It sounds like Kira is poised to do many great things during her year as Miss America.
[Image via Michael Carpenter/WENN.]