Miss Kansas publicly calls out her domestic violence abuser after winning title
This photo provided by Miss America shows Alexis Smith who was crowned Miss Kansas on June 8, 2024, at the ceremony held in Pratt, Kan. Smith works overnight shifts as a cardiothoracic intensive care nurse in Wichita. (Credit: Miss America)
WICHITA, Kan. - Miss Kansas is using her crown and platform to raise awareness about domestic violence after publicly calling out her abuser from the stage the night she won the title.
Alexis Smith, who works overnight shifts as a cardiothoracic intensive care nurse in Wichita, was crowned Miss Kansas on June 8.
She later posted video on social media on July 16 of her on-stage comments, saying the perpetrator was sitting in the audience.
Her video was viewed more than 60,000 times and generated a rash of comments and news stories.
"My vision as the next Miss Kansas is to eliminate unhealthy and abusive relationships," Smith said during the interview portion of the pageant last month. "Matter of fact, some of you in this audience saw me very emotional because my abuser is here today. But that’s not going to stop me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and from representing as the next Miss Kansas."
Alexis Gown. (Credit: Miss America)
Smith just recently started her reign and began raising concerns about the issue in interviews and social media posts. Her bold pageant statement against domestic abuse and her courage to speak out is being praised online by dozens of people as her video gets shared again and again.
The beauty queen cares deeply about domestic violence issues because not only was she a victim, but so were many of the other women in her family, she has said.
"My family, every single woman in my family, was impacted by domestic violence," she said in an interview with Wichita television station KSN. "At the age of 14, I got in my first relationship, but it was also an abusive relationship that I was in until about 2018, 2019. It’s something that I’m still experiencing and dealing with today."
Smith said she even moved to Texas for a couple years after she escaped the relationship. She returned to Wichita to study nursing at Newman University.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.