Miss America denies reports she’s unhappy

John Curran

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Reigning Miss America Katie Harman is denying reports that she's unhappy with the position.

In an eight-page letter to pageant directors this month, Harman's parents had said the 21-year-old collegian was upset over unexpected fees, a lack of lucrative bookings and rude treatment of her parents. Harman was also said to be opposed to a proposal for a Miss America-themed slot machine.

But in a statement issued Wednesday by the Miss America Organization, the former Miss Oregon said her new crown fits just fine.

"For the record, I love the job of Miss America and am 100 percent in support of the Miss America Organization," she said. She backed out of a scheduled telephone interview with the Associated Press earlier Wednesday; she said she would answer questions at a Friday news conference.

The Feb. 3 letter was written by Glen and Darla Harman and sent to Robert Renneisen Jr., Miss America CEO, who provided a copy this week in response to a request.

They had complained that their daughter had been billed more than $2,200 for a post-crowning party at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, been asked to pay for alterations to her clothes and was regularly "in trouble (with pageant officials) for things that are not her fault."

Renneisen said Harman's bookings had picked up after a post-Sept. 11 slump and that she is on pace to earn $250,000 or more in appearance fees during her reign. He also said alteration bills for 26 items were sent to Harman by mistake and the pageant has since paid them.

"Over the past week, there have been unauthorized comments in the news media indicating that I am unhappy as Miss America and that I have been 'mistreated' by the Miss America Organization," Harman's statement said. "These statements are not true; they do not represent my feelings and were attributed to me without my knowledge or consent."

The letter was the latest in a series of lumps for the Miss America Organization.

Citing high production costs, pageant officials are threatening to move the show from Atlantic City after next year if they don't get more money from the state. Meanwhile, state pageant directors are grumbling about how the 80-year-old national contest is run.