[Baldwin:] A bombshell report involving the Miss America Organization. This is revealing, how some of the page ends biggest stars were fat shamed and humiliated behind the scenes. The Huffington Post and Yashar Ali was the one who broke this published several scathing e- mails exchanged between Miss America CEO Sam Haskell and other top officials. And the one raising all kinds of concerns is this, where he writes: "We are no longer going to call them forever Miss Americas. Please change all script copy to reflect that they are former Miss Americas." The official then responds: "I already changed forevers to the "C- word." Does that work for you?" And CEO Haskell responds, "Perfect. Bahahaha." Now 49 former Miss Americas are calling for the organization's board members to resign immediately. Two of them with me now. They are both the subject of some of these malevolent e-mails, Kate Shindle, who was crowned in 1988. She is now president of the Actors Equity Association. And 2013 Miss America, Mallory Hagan, is on the phone with me now. She's now an anchor at WLTZ in Columbus, Georgia. So, ladies, thank you to both of you.
[Kate Shindle, Former Miss America:] Thanks.
[Baldwin:] And, Kate, let me just start with you.
[Mallory Hagan, Former Miss America:] Hey.
[Baldwin:] Hi. But, Kate, all right, before we get to how all of this feels and especially having it so out there, thanks Yashar and HuffPo, how bad was it at the worst moments and times?
[Shindle:] You know, I'm not even sure we know how bad it was at the worst moments. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the tip of the iceberg and there's more to come. I have heard conversations about all kinds of things across the spectrum, ranging from financial issues to different types of communications.
[Baldwin:] Well, what about you directly?
[Shindle:] Oh, for me, the worst part was having to call my mom and say, hey, just so you, there is an article that just posted where a bunch of people wished I was dead. What do we do with that? Oh, and, by the way, they all work for the organization that taught me how to be a leader and an activist. But this is how they do it now.
[Baldwin:] How crushing was that to read that?
[Shindle:] It was sad. It was sad. But, you know, you can only go up from here, frankly. And I think that, as long as they were going to say these things, I'm kind of glad they were dumb enough to put them in e-mails, so they could then become public.
[Baldwin:] Mallory
[Shindle:] I shouldn't say that.
[Baldwin:] Hey, you feel it, you say it. Mallory, Mallory, how do you feel? What's the worst of it for you, directed at you?