Miss America Kira Kazantsez denies reports she aggressively hazed pledges as sorority girl

MISS America says she was removed from her college sorority over a letter that made light of hazing, but she denies a report that she was involved in aggressively hazing fellow students.

Kira Kazantsev said on ABC’s Good Morning America that she was asked to leave the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University after sending an email to alumni that included what she said was a joke about making an event “scary” for pledges.

The website Jezebel reported Monday, based on an anonymous source, that Kazantsev was involved with aggressively hazing pledges and made their lives “a living hell”.

Reign ... Kazantsev is crowned Miss America 2015 by Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Picture: AFP/The Miss America Organisation Source: AFP

Under Kazantev’s watch, “pledges were called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion,” reports Jezebel.
“They are not true,” Kazantsev told GMA of the claims she was involved in harsh hazing. “I’m incredibly hurt that someone has said these things.”

Mean girl reports ... Kazantsev waves to the audience after being crowned Miss America 2015. Picture: AFP/The Miss America Organisation Source: AFP

However, Kazantsev admitted she took part in some hazing activities. She said she was hazed as a pledge, and cited a culture of hazing at Hofstra.
“All I can do is sit here and be honest and share that, yes, I was involved under the broad definition of hazing at some point but never ever in a million years what this is claiming to hold,” she said.
The Miss America organisation says that Kazantsev was open with them about being terminated from the sorority.