After a number of states have started a revolt against the leadership of the Miss America Organization headed by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, the national organization has terminated the licenses of four states and threatening another 15 with probation. 
 
 The rebellion ignited when a number of states said they were not happy with the way Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper ran the organization. It was also around the same time some of the state officials were unhappy with the elimination of the swimsuit competition — but officials say the revolt wasn’t because of that. 
 
 Although the organization went on a spree of revoking licenses, they did, however, thank the officials who supported them.st Miss America pageant without a swimsuit competition. 
 
 According to the Associated Press, Georgia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania were among the states that were notified that their licenses have been revoked. A fourth state has also been added to that list, according to state officials, but it has not been revealed. As a result, these states will no longer be affiliated with the Miss America Organization. They must also turn over bank accounts with scholarship money to the national organization. 
 
 The states whose licenses were terminated have to find a replacement for their current leaders. They can request an appeal hearing from Miss America’s executive committee. 
 
 In August, former Miss America winners Suzette Charles (Miss America 1984) and Heather Whitestone (Miss America 1995) came forward to confirm Cara Mund’s (Miss America 2017) claims that Carlson, a former Miss America herself, bullied her and others. They called for her and Hopper to resign, along with 23 former Miss Americas. 

 FILE – In this Sept. 10, 2017, file photo, Miss North Dakota Cara Mund reacts after being named Miss America during the Miss America 2018 pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. The Miss America Organization is... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE – In this Sept. 10, 2017, file photo, Miss North Dakota Cara Mund reacts after being named Miss America during the Miss America 2018 pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. The Miss America Organization is... (Associated Press) 
 
 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The other heel has dropped at the Miss America Organization, which had endured a revolt by dozens of states this summer against the national leadership of the pageant headed by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. 
 
 The crowning of the latest Miss America took place last month with the pageant's national leadership largely silent on the calls for their resignation from many states. 
 
 But now the national organization is undertaking a purge of rebellious state officials, terminating the licenses of four states, threatening about 15 with probation — and thanking others whose officials stood by the national leadership in the first Miss America pageant without a swimsuit competition. 
 
 States whose licenses are terminated must replace current leaders. They can request an appeal hearing from Miss America's executive committee. 
 
 The Miss America Organization would not say how it decided which states to terminate and which to threaten with probation, issuing a statement to The Associated Press that read, in its entirety, "The process regarding Miss America state licensees is confidential." 
 
 State officials say their dissatisfaction stemmed not from the elimination of swimsuits, but by the way Carlson and CEO Regina Hopper ran the organization since taking over in January. 
 
 Georgia and West Virginia are among states that were notified in recent days that their state licenses are being terminated, Paul Perkins, a lawyer representing both states, told The Associated Press. And a Pennsylvania state pageant official, Chet Welch, confirmed his state has gotten a termination notice as well. 
 
 One other state also has been terminated, according to state officials and a former national board member, but its officials did not respond to messages seeking comment Monday. 
 
 Other states have been asked to explain — in writing — why they acted as they did in the run-up to the pageant. 
 
 "They are upset, but now they are scared, too," said Jennifer Vaden Barth, a former national board member and a former Miss North Carolina. "This just validates why people are upset and why they felt the need to speak out in the first place." 
 
 A state organization that has its license terminated can no longer claim to be affiliated with the Miss America Organization and must, among other things, turn over bank accounts with scholarship money to the national organization. 
 
 Vaden Barth formed a GoFundMe account called the Miss America Organization Leadership Change Fund that has raised over $22,000 to help states defend themselves and advocate for new leadership at the top. 
 
 When this year's pageant was held last month, 46 of the 51 state pageant organizations (the District of Columbia is included) had called on the two to resign, along with 23 former Miss Americas. 
 
 It followed the release of a remarkable letter from the outgoing Miss America, Cara Mund, in which she said she had been marginalized and bullied by top pageant leaders. An investigation commissioned by the Miss America Organization found no evidence to back up that claim, but investigators did not interview Mund for the report, which was issued the day after the most recent pageant was held. 
 
 Carlson, who was Miss America 1989, and Hopper depict the opposition as a "noisy minority" resistant to change, particularly one as large as the elimination of the pageant's swimsuit competition. 
 
 But many state officials say their opposition is rooted in a lack of transparency and communication from national leaders, and does not involve the swimsuit decision. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
– Cross Gretchen Carlson and Regina Hopper at your peril, apparently. As individual states called for the two leaders of the Miss America Organization to step down in advance of last month's pageant, little was said by the women, who act as the chairwoman and CEO, respectively. Now, action: Four states have had their licenses terminated by the organization in what the AP calls a "purge of rebellious state officials." Those states—Georgia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and one undisclosed one—will have to relinquish any bank accounts containing scholarship money and install new leadership, and they cannot publicize any affiliation with the national organization. But they're not necessarily out for good, per Deadline: They can request an appeal hearing in front of Miss America's executive committee. They're also not exactly alone. An estimated 15 states have been threatened with probation and asked to detail, in writing, the motivation for their actions. All but five state pageant organizations had called on Carlson and Hopper to resign, and the Miss America Organization would not elaborate on why this particular group of states was targeted beyond calling the entire licensing process "confidential." The drama first emerged with an open letter from Miss America 2017 Cara Mund, who accused Carlson and Hopper of bullying her. Read more on Mund's accusations here.