Who owns Miss America? A former Atlantic City casino owner is suing for $20 million.

Will the real owner of Miss America please stand up?

A dispute over the ownership of the long-running beauty pageant is taking center stage after former Atlantic City casino owner Glenn F. Straub last week sued Miss America’s CEO for $20 million in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Straub, who owns companies that acquired the Miss America Organization in 2022, claims in the lawsuit that he terminated Robin Fleming from her position as the pageant’s CEO in April, but that she claims to still be in charge. The lawsuit further alleges that Fleming has paid herself hundreds of thousands of dollars without permission, diverted business away from the company, and locked it out of important financial accounts.

Fleming, however, claimed to be the “sole and rightful owner” of Miss America in a statement posted to social media Monday.

“I refuse to be bullied by Mr. Straub,” Fleming wrote. “His only involvement was to direct me to a corporate entity that provided a line of credit, most of which has been repaid.”

Court records did not indicate a formal response to the lawsuit from Fleming had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon. She vowed on Instagram that one would be filed “in the coming week.”

The lawsuit alleges that Fleming “directed business clients and corporate opportunities” away from LLCs of which Straub is the “sole member and sole director” — Miss America Competitions and Miss America IP — instead steering them to a related company that Straub alleges she used for personal financial benefit: the Miss America Scholarship Foundation, formerly Miss America Outstanding Teen Inc. The lawsuit does not specify a total estimate on how much business was lost.

The lawsuit also claims that Fleming “paid herself an amount in excess” of $200,000 “without proper authority or approvals” from Straub, and held the Miss American organizations “hostage” by refusing to provide access to financial accounts.

Straub’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No attorney was listed for Fleming in court records. Miss America Opportunity said it was awaiting an approved statement from its legal team.

The lawsuit asks for a court judgment in excess of $20 million, as well as “an award of damages for the monies wrongfully taken and converted” by Fleming. Straub has also asked the court for an injunction ordering Fleming to give the companies access to their financial records and bank accounts.

In an email to pageant state directors obtained by BreakingAC, Straub, who used to own the Revel Casino, wrote that Fleming was terminated as CEO earlier in April after “internal audits unearthed multiple abnormalities.” He added that he has since selected a new president who will be be announced soon.

“Robin Fleming has continued the ruse of ownership in order to unilaterally control and block access to bank accounts, credit cards, official Miss America social media outlets, and to hide a substantial amount of assets included in the purchase agreement and paid for in full by my company,” Straub’s message read.

Fleming, meanwhile, said in a statement that Straub’s lawsuit is an “attempt to defraud the organization” and “just another blatant effort by a litigious individual.”

The Miss America pageant began in Atlantic City in 1921, and was held there for decades until it moved to Las Vegas in 2005. It returned to New Jersey in 2013, where it stayed until moving to Connecticut in 2019.