Miss America CEO Fired

The head of the Miss America Pageant has been fired, two weeks after it was revealed that the pageant would drop its nearly 50-year ban on contestants who've been married or undergone abortions.

Robert L. Beck, 60, who took over as CEO of the Miss America Organization last year, was released from his contract Sunday night, according to a statement issued today by David Frisch, chairman of the pageant's board of directors.

Pageant officials announced the move in a one-paragraph statement. Pageant spokesman John Healy said Beck did not resign.

"While the board acknowledged Mr. Beck's contributions to the Miss America program during the 12 months that he served as president and CEO, they agreed that selecting a new chief executive was in the best interests of the organization at this time. A national search to replace Mr. Beck will commence immediately," Frisch's statement said.

The Associated Press reported Sept. 13 that the Miss America Organization had adopted new rules to accept competitors who had been divorced or had abortions. The changes were approved last month in order to bring the pageant in line with New Jersey's discrimination laws, according to court documents.

But the next day, amid a public outcry, Beck said the board had agreed to defer implementing the new rules and might cancel the change altogether.

Beck, a lawyer by trade, was named to the $250,000-a-year job last year after longtime boss Leonard C. Horn stepped down. Beck impressed the pageant's board with a resume that included work with the U.S. Soccer Federation Foundation and the national advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving.