NATION : Pageant Official Quits Under Fire
FT. WORTH — The former chairman of the Miss Texas Pageant, who allegedly made lewd comments to contestants, today severed his ties with the competition at the insistence of the Miss America pageant.
B. Don Magness, voluntary chairman of the Texas pageant for 20 years, resigned in August, just before this year’s national contest. But he stayed on the pageant’s board of directors, saying news reports depicted him unfairly.
After a two-month investigation, national pageant director Leonard Horn said Tuesday that he will strip the Texas contest of its franchise--barring its winner from the Miss America competition--unless Magness stays off the state board for at least three years.
Magness announced his resignation at a news conference today and said Horn’s threat amounted to blackmail.
Magness countered with allegations of his own, contending that national leaders of the pageant are concerned with the number of black winners of the competition and its ability to attract sponsors.
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