Sudden surprise: CW dumps two beauty pageants

The decline of beauty pageants has reached a new extreme.
Now the CW network had decided not to air the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants, Aug. 26 and 27. It also bailed out last year … but this time, the decision came, with no explanation, less than a week before the events.
The network did air it in 2024 (shown here is winner Alma Cooper) and 2023.
Instead, it will air reruns — a Freddie Mercury film Wednesday and game shows Thursday. The pageants will air on the Queen Beauty Network, an obscure streamer that requires payment.
Miss USA was started in 1950 by a swimsuit company, after a Miss America winner had refused to pose in swimwear. It went through several owners, including a link between NBC, Univision and Donald Trump.
That ended with Trump’s comments about immigrants. The networks pulled out, court suits followed and Trump eventually sold. The pageant spent years on small cable networks (Reelz, FYI), then seemed to find new life with CW, which aired Miss Teen USA and Miss USA in 2023 and 2024.
Then both the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA winners resigned, alleging a toxic work environment, bullying and late arrival of prizes. CW dropped out of the 2025 pageant, then agreed to return in 2026 … until its late decision to drop out again.
If people want to see the pageants, their choices may be to go to Miami or to the Queen Beauty Network … except that a check of the latter found no reference to either event
Instead, the QBN site discussed Miss Earth USA (plus a reality show, “Pretty Down to Earth”), Miss Exclusive, Ms. USA and Mrs. USA. It told people to buy tickets (no longer available) to the 2025 Miss USA and Miss Teen USA streamer-casts, but didn’t mention the 2026 ones.