Karlie Hay is a beauty pageant queen from Tomball, Texas.

^[3]Several of her family members struggled with alcohol and substance abuse.

^[13]She attended Tomball High School and participated in Cheerleading and Photography.

^{[14] [13]}She won Miss Teen USA on July 30, 2016.

^[10]

Controversial Tweets

After Karlie won the pageant, it came to light that she used the N-Word in several of her tweets in 2013-2014.

^[-1]She cited personal struggles for the tweets and says that those words do not represent the person she is today.

^[-1]

Miss Teen USA's 2010 winner Kamie Crawford criticized Hay for not cleaning up her Twitter account prior to becoming a public figure.

^{[2] [9]}

The Miss Universe Organization stood by Hay, calling her tweets a "mistake" and "a learning experience"^[10]

In another interview, Hay said her 15-year-old self had been influenced by the music she had been listening to and trying to "fit in" with the crowd.

^[7]