Mrs. America Pageant co-founder accused of making racist remarks: 'You people need to stop killing each other'

Three black beauty pageant contestants are accusing Mrs. America pageant co-founder and president David Marmel of making racist comments, including using the N-word. But Marmel tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the women are simply “disgruntled ladies.”

On Monday, attorney Gloria Allred said in a news conference that the women, Mrs. New Jersey, Crissy Timpson, Mrs. Missouri, Brandy Palacios, and Mrs. Delaware, Kimberly Phillips, are seeking only an apology from Marmel, 82. “They simply want the Mrs. America pageant to be a place where everyone is respected, is treated equally and feels safe,” said Allred, according to CNN.

Mrs. Ohio, Jeri Ward, who is white, claims she heard Marmel make the comments and regrets not speaking up sooner.

“I became overwhelmingly devastated that within that conversation, I was weak and a part of the problem,” said Ward, per CNN. “I did not stand up for these brilliant, kind, loving, funny, and incredible women when they needed me the most. And I was just as guilty as the man who was saying these horrible things to them. I’m here today because in an environment that is supposed to encourage, uplift, and support women, the exact opposite happened. And I’m here today because I have a moral and social responsibility.”

The Mrs. America pageant (not to be confused with the 97-year-old Miss America competition) is an annual event in its 42nd year, featuring “the most accomplished married women” in the country who compete for the title, according to its Facebook page.

According to CNN, the women claim Marmel made the comments during an Aug. 21 party at Las Vegas’ Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino. “At that point, Mr. Marmel asked if he could be frank with us,” said Philips, explaining that he told a story about a black friend who lived in the projects and became an attorney, avoiding life on the street.

“[Marmel] then said that it is not the 1960s anymore, and black people can’t rely on the government for assistance. He also stated that all black women need to stop having babies — with four baby daddies — and all black men are in jail because they need to stop selling drugs and killing each other,” Phillips said, according to CNN.

Palacios said that Marmel also spoke negatively about athletes who kneel during the national anthem. She added that Marmel, a former employee of Johnson Publishing Company, Inc., which previously owned Ebony magazine, shared that staffers used the N-word, himself included, “because they were ‘brothers.’ “At this point, he rolled up his sleeve and put his arm next to mine in order to compare skin colors,” she said.

Phillips said that Marmel was accustomed to using the N-word, because he saw it in sports stadiums that banned African-American and Jewish people.

Timpson also said that she once told Marmel that her husband had served in the military. “He went on to tell me how he had served. I thought that was going to be the end of the conversation, but then said, and I quote, ‘The a****** who kneels needs to stop disrespecting my flag.'”

“David then changed the subject and said, ‘Well, you people need to stop killing each other,'” said Timpson, a sentence he allegedly repeated at the party in August.

However, Marmel tells Yahoo Lifestyle that his words were twisted. “I saw these African-American women sitting apart from the other women at the party, not socializing, and I was concerned there was an issue,” he said. “I approached them as a friend concerned for their welfare, and they invited me to sit with them.”

Marmel says that while proudly sharing his professional achievements, which included creating the American Black Achievement Awards (as indicated on his IMDb page) and landing an invitation from the NAACP to dine with Martin Luther King Jr., he mentioned growing up as Jewish and a member of a minority.

“I told the women about the signs and in doing so, used the words on them — I wasn’t making a proclamation,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. He also admits to relaying the story about Johnson Publishing Company. “I said, ‘The attempts at racial humor would curl the hair on the back of your neck, but it was said in fun, between colleagues,'” says Marmel.

“The women then asked me what I had learned from working at the company, and I cited a popular series on black-on-black crime,” Marmel explains. “I learned from that piece that black children were killing each other at an accelerated rate and that young African-American women are having children out of wedlock.”

Marmel stands by his flag comment, but denies using an expletive. “I served three years in Germany, and how dare anyone — white, black, green, yellow, or blue — disrespect the flag?” he says.

The women say they feared no one would believe their version of events because they had lost the pageant. “I was upset, but more so saddened. after spending two years and thousands of dollars on this organization, I felt as if I did not have a chance, simply because of the color of my skin,” Phillips said, according to CNN.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I have seen disgruntled ladies,” Marmel tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “It says more about their inability to handle the results of the competition.”

Marmel says that although he won’t take legal action in response, “The women owe me an apology. They twisted something that was supposed to be helpful. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• ‘Cornerstore Caroline’: Woman calls the police on 9-year-old boy for sexual assault

• ‘Babysitting while black’: Woman calls police on male babysitter with white children

• Man who fired shotgun at lost black boy seeking directions says he’s ‘tired of being a victim’

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