Why Miss Alabama Abbie Stockard, 22, Has Sparked Fury By Being Crowned Miss America — With Fans All Saying Same Thing
Miss Alabama Abbie Stockard was named Miss America 2025.
Jan. 6 2025, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
There she is, Miss America – but hardly anybody knows it.
The once-glamorous Miss America pageant was held over the weekend, but without a major media outlet, few fans even realized it was on, RadarOnline.com can report.
Many fans were unaware Miss America aired, as it was only online this year.
On Sunday, nursing student Abbie Stockard, 22, was named Miss America 2025. The Auburn University cheerleader beat out 10 other finalists for the crown and $50,000 scholarship prize.
But the real loser Sunday might just be the pageant itself. The formerly celebrated beauty contest, which was a regular must-see event on television, has now been jettisoned to only streaming online.
The event has been plagued in recent years with low ratings, a sense of irrelevancy and questions about its place in today's modern world.
Stockard is an Auburn University cheerleader
Instead, this year fans were encouraged to stream the contest on the Miss America YouTube channel.
However, many missed that chance, not knowing where to find it. Those that did tune in bashed the show's low production value, with many comparing it to being filmed with an I-phone.
Online, angry pageant fans dropped any sense of congeniality.
One person slammed: "Lord have mercy, how far the Miss America pageant has fallen. What a third-rate production – not fair to the girls competing for the once-coveted crown."
Another noted: "There was a lot less awkward emceeing and filler when Miss America was on a national tv schedule."
While a third person concluded: "I’ll be the one to say it…I think Miss America needs to hang it up. This is terrible and embarrassing."
The Miss America organization has gained a lot of backlash for their allegedly misogynistic ways.
Several years ago, the association's CEO, Sam Haskell, resigned after a series of nasty internal emails from company staffers were leaked. In them, various senior officials were seen fat shaming and name-calling contestants.
The organization behind the award has also tried to reinvent the show multiple times, turning it into a reality competition and slashing controversial segments.
In 2019, the show made the drastic switch to judge contestants on their skills and inner beauty, rather than on their appearance.
"We are no longer a pageant," former Miss America Gretchen Carlson, told Good Morning America. "We are a competition."
The pageant has made several changes to its format over the years.
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For the next few years, contestants no longer took part in the polemic swimsuit contest – which had been eliminated. They instead had to answer a series of questions from the judges and demonstrate they have what it takes to represent the nation.
The organization also ditched the evening gown competition, instead asking the female contestants to wear something that made them feel confident.
Carlson told GMA: "We've heard from a lot of young women who say, 'We'd love to be a part of your program but we don't want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit,' so guess what, you don't have to do that anymore.
"Who doesn't want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul. "That's what we're judging them on now."
