Miss America winner accuses Gretchen Carlson of bullying and silencing her -- pageant fires back

AP

Reigning Miss America Cara Mund has written a letter to her fellow Miss Americas complaining about the treatment she's received from Miss America Organization chair Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper. "Let me be blunt: I strongly believe that my voice is not heard nor wanted by our current leadership; nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future,” Mund wrote. “Our chair and CEO have systematically silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America in subtle and not-so-subtle ways on a daily basis. After a while, the patterns have clearly emerged, and the sheer accumulation of the disrespect, passive-aggressive behavior, belittlement, and outright exclusion has taken a serious toll.” The Miss America Organization responded to Mund's letter by calling her allegations "unfounded": “The Miss America Organization supports Cara," the pageant said in a statement. "It is disappointing that she chose to air her grievances publicly not privately. Her letter contains mischaracterizations and many unfounded accusations. We are reaching out to her privately to address her concerns.” ALSO: Who would have thought that a beauty pageant operating in 2018 would still have issues?