Will the Real Owner Please Stand Up? | EP 3

The legal battle between Glenn Straub and Robin Fleming has escalated into a full-on war. And in her RICO complaint, Robin makes some disturbing allegations. Just a warning, what you're about to hear isn't nice.

In the summer of 2024, the court orders Robin and Glenn to have a conciliation conference. And Robin says that during this meeting, Glenn continues to threaten her. She says that he calls himself Hamas and her Israel. And she says that he also calls himself Hitler.

Those are not the words you expect to hear in a lawsuit over a beauty pageant. What started off as a dispute over ownership has morphed into a $ 500 million RICO case that's full of shocking accusations, name-calling, and allegations of fraud.

Here's a voice actor reading the words of the judge.

In the case.

He lacked emotional expression even when being accused of forgery. His only passion seemed to be his devotion to Mr.

Straub. I did not believe his explanations. Mr. Straub was not credible either.

As of now, Robin Fleming is the owner of Miss America, but the case isn't closed. Glenn's alleged history of misconduct with women has become a major part of Robin's legal case.

Glenn isn't going away quietly.

He maintains that he's the rightful owner of the Miss America pageant and that Robin is twisting the facts to distract the courts.

How could That vicious woman turned that around.

On this episode, we're digging into Miss America's ongoing lawsuits and telling you what the evidence reveals about the two people locked in this battle.

Even if you don't care about pageants, it's not hard to see why this matters.

Thousands of young women across the country are training right now, hoping to become the next Miss Tennessee, Miss Texas, and eventually Miss America. So it matters who controls the organizations. It matters who's making decisions. And it matters what their motivations are. According to the former participants and winners I've spoken with, there's a kind of obliviousness, and in some cases, willful denial, about the leadership crisis at the top of Miss America. Mallory told me that many people in the community believe in Robin Fleming.

Robin is a millionaire, that there is enough money to run Miss America for forever, has permeated the program. And I don't know that anyone has any idea otherwise.

I just need to say, Robin does insist that she's a millionaire in her deposition.

But she hasn't offered proof in the public record.

They know that there's conflict with Glenn. They know that these lawsuits exist. But I don't know that they have ever taken the time to, like, read the depositions or see a purchase agreement.

The pageant community wasn't much help when it came to understanding Robin and Glenn in these lawsuits. We of course reached out to Robin, who declined our interview request. Glenn agreed to talk, and the conversation did offer some insight, but that was only his side of the story. So the team got to work, reading through thousands of legal documents.

As we were reporting for this episode, hundreds of pages of depositions and evidence were being entered into the public record. We found text messages between Robin and Glenn that were submitted by Glenn's attorneys. The texts are from 2022, right before the sale of Miss America, all the way up to when Glenn says he allegedly fired Robin in 2024.

We don't know how Robin's lawyer figured out we found these texts, but their lawyer sent us this letter. It has come to my attention that you have been provided private text messages that may have been unlawfully sent to you. Because of ongoing litigation involving individuals involved in those text messages, it is imperative that we learn the source in order to avoid the expense on both our parts of issuing a subpoena to you, requiring you provide the information at the time or spend the money to defend the subpoena.

We are demanding that you inform us at this point the source of these text messages. Again, we found these texts in the public record. As of when this is being recorded, anyone listening can search a public internet database and find them. On one of our calls with Mallory Hagan, we filled her in about these letters from Miss America's lawyers.

And Mallory pointed out the irony here.

They refused to speak.

You were inclined to do a little more digging and then a little more digging. And then they made it difficult for you to speak to Miss America's and they don't want you to talk to anyone.

So now you're doing.

More digging and you're finding more interesting stories. In the wise words of George Bush a la Cat Williams, you get on that horse, you gotta ride it.

And ride it we shall, Mallory. Miss America, I ask you to ride.

Go down and beat your subjects as I now sing you your song.

Welcome to The Curse of Miss America. I'm Bridget Armstrong.

Your willing subjects are out there waiting for you. The new Miss America, here she comes!

When we talked to Glenn Straub, he claimed to have not known Robin Fleming particularly well. He actually said, According to Robin Fleming's deposition, she said they met sometime in 2007. but that she didn't really know him like that until 2021. That's when she says they started meeting to, quote, discuss various business opportunities and women's empowerment issues. You know, as one does with a 70-something-year-old billionaire. This becomes a pattern in this story. Glenn and Robin's versions of events don't line up and often spark even more questions. Chief of which being, How did these two unlikely characters end up in a fight over Miss America? Robin and Glenn might not have given us a clear answer, but their texts

start to paint a picture.

So let's go back to February.

2022, about a year before the sale of Miss America. These are the earliest texts Glenn's defense team entered into evidence. Robin's lawyers also submitted these texts later. We've had voice actors read from their messages. The first one is sent from Robin to Glenn.

So good to see you, Sunday. I wanted you to put on the calendar March 6 polo as I'm inviting the girls from the Miss Florida USA organization out to enjoy a Sunday of polo and divot stomping. I should have about 30 plus young women who are competing and gorgeous attend and will have my box full of former title holders who are now into full-blown modeling and social media careers. It would be fun to consider having a Metropolitan Magazine cover the event and possibly be a sponsor.

Will you be at Polo at all then? If not, no worries.

I can join you at 5 on the yacht. I'll bring some of your favorite watermelon-infused vodka.

Later that day at 3.53 p.m., Glenn replied.

Don't prefer watermelon.

Just orange.

But we have enough. Just bring yourself and Max another girl. But send pictures so security has approval.

As we've learned from this case, articles, and lawsuits involving Glenn, he has a pattern of surrounding himself with attractive younger women. Here's a text conversation Glenn and Robin appeared to have on March 5th of 2022, about a month after the watermelon vodka exchange.

You need the yacht tonight or tomorrow?

Aw, you are the best.

I don't have anyone here tonight, but what are you doing later? I have a reception event from 7 to 8 at PGA. and we'll be all dressed up with nowhere to go later. How late are you running around tonight?

We're around all night with plenty of energy.

Just call.

Two days later, Robin appears to send Glenn a TikTok video.

The girls made a cute TikTok of your boat last night.

For the next few months, Glenn and Robin send friendly texts where they plan to meet up for coffee, dinner, or at the polo club. At first, Robin is the one initiating their meetups.

This doesn't really seem like the tone of two people who don't know each other or who have a strictly business relationship. They're friendly. Here's one text from March 25th, 2022.

Glenn, I know you were exhausted. Thank you so much for coming and meeting us at the bar and hanging out with Britt. She thinks you're amazing.

I seriously thought you looked super cute in your boss outfit.

We need to take her out on the boat. She's never been on a boat like yours before. It would be a huge new experience for her. Hope we can do this Sunday.

Let me know. XOXO, Robin.

We can assume that at one of these in-person meetings, the topic of purchasing a major pageant must have come up. Because pretty soon, it becomes part of Robin and Glenn's text conversation.

Hi, Glenn.

Good news.

Miss America is for sale. I spoke with the CEO yesterday. It's a great deal, actually low investment. The way it's structured would be highly workable. She has two other interested buyers, or so she says, LOL.

By CEO of Miss America, I assume Robin's referring to Chantel Krebs. Remember, that's the former Miss South Dakota who was running the pageant at the time. Robin's text to Glenn goes on, addressing another iron they must have had in the fire.

Also, the general counsel at Miss USA, Miss Universe, did not really respond regarding selling pageants.

We told you about this in the last episode.

At first, Glenn and Robin seemed to be interested in buying Miss Universe. At the time, it was owned by Endeavor. But in Robin's initial complaint, She says Endeavor saw Glenn's name attached to the bid and ghosted her. According to Robin, she found out, much later, that Miss Universe did a background check on Glenn and declined to move forward when they saw that he'd been charged with choking a 22-year-old girl in 2007. Those charges were later dismissed. We found no documents confirming that this background check is the reason Miss Universe ghosted. And Robin's team dropped any mention of this case in later versions.

Of the complaint.

But this is one of the only clues we have as to why the deal fell through. Whatever the case, after Robin and Glenn stopped hearing from Miss Universe, the text showed that they shift focus. They started closing in on Miss America.

We are now in active talks to buy Miss America from the brink of destruction.

Let me know when you can chat.

I'm getting financials this morning slash on the call to Miss America VP right now.

We'll call you back.

As the details of the Miss America deal began to fall into place, the text initially seemed to show that Glenn was the financier, the person who would bankroll this deal. Robin would run the day-to-day and be the girl-bossing face of the pageant. But she needed Glenn's help to close the deal. And by that, I mean she needed Glenn's money.

On October 27, 2022, she sent Glenn this text.

I have really good news about the Miss America deal. I don't have to pay the $ 3. 5 million debt, but I just have to restructure it and have operating cash for the first year. That limits your exposure as a bank, and it should be more fun to do a project with less pressure. And I will ask you to help me restructure the debt to something manageable. Obviously, I still need a loan, but it'll be repaid within three years.

Over the next two months, the purchase agreement is finalized. Glenn and Robin text back and forth about the details. For her part, former chairwoman of Miss America, Chantel Krebs, believed she was selling to Robin Fleming and Robin Fleming alone.

As part of the.

Ongoing lawsuit, Chantel testified that the Miss America organization performed a background check on Robin, but it was unclear if that background check included financial vetting.

We've recreated an excerpt of what she said under oath.

In the course of your investigation of Ms. Fleming, prior to the consummation of the sale, did it come to your organization's attention that Ms. Fleming had available liquid assets of less than $ 250, 000?

No, it did not.

Not that I recall.

You do agree that it would be quite challenging to deal with the indebtedness of the $ 4. 16 million if, indeed, she has liquid assets of less than $ 250, 000?

That's your personal opinion, not mine. That brings up some glaring unanswered questions.

Like, how did Robin prove she could float the $ 4. 1 million debt without Glenn's help? And if Glenn was the lender, where is the paperwork? We've reached out to Chantel Krebs for an interview, but she has not replied. As the deals started coming together, the evidence shows that Glenn introduced Robin.

To his daughter, Kelly Hull. Remember, Glenn told us the reason he was.

Involved in this pageant deal at all was to give his adult daughter something to do. In a text on December 18, 2022, Glenn writes to Robin, pitching his daughter Kelly and her potential involvement in Miss America.

Kelly holds company, manufactures and distributes small dolls for children in the shape of ponies, along with a book for children in the same package, I believe. Could be used in a resume to show her experiences and versatility.

Robin replies at 6.33 a.m.

She sounds impressive.

Would be amazing to chat with her about the best way to do a Miss America book series for young girls about choosing careers, etc.

Let's have her judge this next year.

And the nepotism begins. Based on his text, Glenn seems to want Miss America to become a Straub family business. Glenn begins throwing out some lines that sound like early drafts of a family press release.

Being the chairman of the board and the majority owner of Miss America, with her other stockholder, your resume here, as president and chief executive officer, along with the financing from her billionaire father, makes a 100-year-old 52-franchises company a landmark success.

After this, Robin messages Kelly Hull separately, and the two of them begin their own business relationship. Interestingly, Kelly and Robin's texts were also submitted into evidence as part of the ongoing federal lawsuit. Glenn's lawyers are the ones who entered Kelly's texts into evidence. As a reminder, these texts are being read by voice actors.

Hi Kelly, this is Robin Fleming with the Miss America Project. Glenn asked that I reach out and get a one or two paragraph bio from you for our presentation.

Pretty quickly, Robin and Kelly began communicating on their own. They realized some things are better discussed without Glenn.

In the summer of 2023, Kelly, Glenn's daughter, sends these texts.

Hi, Robin. Do you have a moment to chat today without my dad? Just want to give you some thoughts about the MA show thing. Don't say I reached out to you. He likes to be in control.

The M.A.

Show thing is referring to an A & E doc that was released that summer about Miss America. In one episode, they detail the scandal with the former Miss America CEO, Sam Haskell.

After Glenn's daughter watched it, she sent Robin this text.

There's a whole episode about a horrible, controlling white man who threatened the girls to drive things home.

Now we pray, LOL.

It seemed like Kelly was comparing her dad's reputation to Sam's. Damn, it'd be your own people. But that's not all. In the text, Kelly later said the quiet part out loud. Just talk to G.

Try to tell him to be good and not ruin my or the org rep by having anyone able to link him in the org.

It seemed that Kelly and Robin both didn't think it would be a good idea for Glenn to be publicly associated with Miss America. Now that Robin had Kelly on board and Glenn's financial backing secured, it was time to move forward with the Miss America sale. On December 22nd, 2022, Robin presents her plan to the Miss America board. Afterwards, Robin texts Kelly with an update.

The board is unanimous in our favor.

Whoop, whoop.

We still have to get a purchase agreement into them in the next seven days, but once they approve the purchase agreement, we take over, LOL.

And take over they did. Or rather, take over she did? On December 30th, 2022, Robyn inked her signature on the asset purchase agreement. And with that, she assumed control of Miss America and became the chief girl bossing CEO in charge. This legal battle is over who owns this pageant. Robyn says she's the owner and was always the owner and CEO.

Glenn was just her financial backer. Glenn says Robyn was just a proxy. She was there to sign the papers and run the day-to-day. So far, a judge has sided with Robyn. But the texts between Robin and Glenn seem to support both of their claims. Like take this text, for example.

If you have the energy, the right thing to do now is to produce a press release. I know the person to formally do that. I have found that reporters are lazy. And if done right, will say things your way. Good luck.

Dang, Glenn. I'm not taking that personally.

Can you call? With pen and pencil. and go over what you want the public and competitors to hear here.

Here's another text.

Any time for the thousand questions remaining?

Yes, definitely time, but I'm going to be in pajamas. Just come over for coffee.

Their texts from this time seem to back up Glenn's story that he was overseeing Robin's day-to-day operations. Glenn also claims that their emails from around this time confirmed she was his employee. Take this one email Glenn's side submitted from January 7, 2023, just a couple of weeks after the sale was finalized. Robin is writing to Glenn's lawyer, and she seems to be asking for a finder's fee for delivering the deal.

She also writes this.

If Glenn is unhappy with my work product or execution, he is free to terminate me. Because I love Miss America program, I will agree to stay on and make a successful transition no matter the ill will or issues if asked to do.

Then there are these texts that Robin sent that seem to reveal that they both knew he was a banker who needed to stay out.

Of the limelight.

Here's one from February 2nd, 2023, where Robin texts Glenn after apparently meeting with a major potential sponsor.

Massive success at Women's Luncheon. We have the entire network of the American Heart Association behind us. Well, us, but they don't know you. Just that I had financial backers.

In the lead up to the Miss America pageant in January 2024, Glenn and.

Robin talk openly about his title.

If you have any ideas about if I'm put in a spot that someone would ask me or Michael, what do I do with Miss America? The answer is a banker, coffee drinker, office mover, landlord, father of the chairman of the board.

Father?

Local representative?

He offers about 12 more options before Robin steps in.

Financial benefactor and super fan of women's empowerment.

Sounds good.

But soon, after a little over a year of yacht rides, coffee dates, polo clubs, and collaboration, things started to turn sour in Glenn and Robin's relationship. We'll get into that after the break.

Robin Fleming and Glenn Straub are locked in a legal battle over Miss America, in which they both accuse the other of misrepresenting their role in the organization. Glenn says Robin misused funds and wrestled control of Miss America in a hostile takeover.

Robin says she was always.

The owner and that one of the reasons Glenn turned on her is because she rejected his advances. Here's reporter Anita Constantinides again.

In the lawsuit, Robin does mention there was a moment where Glenn asked if they could become friends with benefits, and she politely turned him down via text and said, I'm too conservative for that. I think his reply was just, check.

I'm like, that was it.

So I think he wanted something more, at least according to Robin's lawsuit, but it sounds like it never went into anything more.

We found the text Annetta is referring to submitted in the complaint. We've had voice actors read the text messages.

Hello, sir.

Looking forward to dinner, but with a side dish of reality. I like our relationship exactly as it is. Fun business chatter, ambitions with a smattering of humor. You are a great judge of character, and you called it the first night. I am too conservative for anything else. I just want to be straight with you, as you have always been with me.

Now, this specific text was sent September 16th of 2022, three months before the pageant was purchased.

That was back in the watermelon vodka days. And it's the only text submitted into evidence that references.

Anything like this.

So it seems that Robin and Glenn agreed to go into business after she turned him down. In her complaint, Robin says the relationship broke down over time, and she had a few reasons as to why. The first, you just heard. Robin turned down Glenn's request for a friends with benefits situation. The second was because she refused to be a proxy for Glenn in an unrelated real estate lawsuit he wanted to file. The third, according to Robin, is because she had a few strongly worded conversations with Glenn about his alleged inappropriate behavior.

Of course, Glenn has a different story.

He claims the reason for the relationship breakdown was strictly business. He stated on our call with him that when he started asking Robin to give updates about her leadership and Miss America's financials, she didn't deliver.

So we let her go and then she decided after we let her go that she was going to take the passwords because we didn't have the password. We didn't have any financial statement. We didn't have anything.

Glenn put this claim in a court document as well.

In his deposition, he says he told Robin he was going to fire her if she didn't provide him with financial information. He also says he sent her a warning letter. Now let's go back to the text to see how the breakdown between Robin and Glenn starts to show.

Call GFS. It's 1.30 p.m.

Sunday.

I am with my daughter and it's a Sunday, having a mother-daughter day.

I thought you know there are no days off when the boss works, especially when we've been putting work off for the past 10 days with non-Miss America work. Just want to go over upcoming things and any answers I left you with, if any response. Call sometime today. I have a lot of other people that I continue to work with.

Happy to chat later. Yes.

P.S.

There have been no non-Miss America days for me. I continue to do Miss America no matter what else I'm doing. And you know that.

Over the next few months, Robin and Glenn text back and forth about pageant businesses. But it appears that Robin could pick up on Glenn being annoyed with the amount of hours she was putting in with Miss America.

Maybe in an effort to smooth over the situation, the next.

Texts show Robin giving Glenn lots of compliments and high praise.

You have saved Miss America, and in doing so, you are saving a part of an American iconic event. Not sure anybody wants to hear that, but I want you to know that. You are personally responsible for women having access to over $ 5 million in scholarships each year through the state organizations. This may be your greatest legacy. Just think of what the women who receive this education will do in the future and the children they will have.

Nobody roots for our success. We have to do this because God tells us to make a difference.

Thanks, but let's not get dramatic.

Robin's compliments don't seem to be working on Glenn. Now let's look at the text between Robin and Glenn's daughter, Kelly. At first, Kelly still seems to be an ally for Robin. Here's a text from Kelly.

Hey, so Glenn was in a mood the other day. I tried to calm him down by trying to explain how great the PR company was doing and how it was a cheap price, etc. But I think he was really jealous of the publicity you were getting. Hope he settled down a bit.

Kelly seems to be implying that Glenn is upset that Robin is the face of Miss America.

Then Kelly wrote, Meanwhile, the power struggle between Glenn and Robin continues.

In March 2024, it looks like Robin goes through her texts with Glenn and starts removing hearts and likes from old messages.

She did it like 18 times. There's an entire page of evidence that's just Robin removing likes. A month after that, Glenn sends this text.

I need to know what time you're showing up at the office.

I was up all night with a headache from the pesticides that were sprayed in your office the other day, so we will have to pick this up next week. None of the migraine medication I've taken is helping.

Based on his text, Glenn seems to think Robin's making excuses.

He practically scolds her.

Won't work this short week like every week? You do this every week or I will find someone that can do the job today. I'm done with no backup. We have the emails and calls to go out knowing you make a fool of how this company has to work with this audit. So figure how to get on a phone and answer questions and send yesterday important notes. You're reminded you are still on temporary suspension. So my advice, if you want to hear it through a text, that you are not to be doing, conducting any Miss America business because that company needs to have proper people operating day to day. Your choice.

According to the legal documents, these are the last texts submitted between Robin Fleming and Glenn Straub. Glenn says he placed Robin on temporary suspension in March. In the midst of all this, Robin sent another text to Kelly.

Can you chat before Glenn launches the attacks tomorrow? He's asked me to meet at the clubhouse. I am going to meet him and see what he has to say. Hopefully there's some reconciliation at this point.

Here's Kelly's response.

I chatted with him this morning. Definitely do not say I talked to you. He said for me not to talk to you.

Of course.

I laid into him that I want no scandal and that he better not drag my name or my kids through any PR mess. He kept saying you stole IP and I was like, I'm sure she did not steal anything. I also said if he's going to shut it down, why doesn't he just sell it as is? I don't want to be known as the family that killed Miss America.

Let that sink in. Robin replies that she's on the way to meet Glenn.

I'm headed there now. Do you have two minutes to chat?

I wanted to run something by you. It allows us to stick to the letter of the agreement, but also gives Glenn some control that he wants, but you would have to agree.

After the meeting, Robin gives Kelly an update.

Dinner was a success, so far a complete ceasefire. I even got a kiss on the cheek when I left. Not sure if it means anything, though. LOL.

It seems the kiss on the cheek did not mean anything. In the weeks after this, Glenn went off.

He says he fired Robin Fleming from her position as president of Miss America, for cause. He bypassed Robin and sent an email to state pageant directors containing some shocking claims about Robin's leadership. Glenn told the state directors he'd fired Robin after an internal audit found misuse of funds, including unauthorized payments to herself. In the letter, Glenn also alleges that Robin had taken over access to Miss America's bank accounts, credit cards, and social media accounts. After allegedly being fired, Robin did not leave the organization. She kept a smile on her face and a firm hand controlling the pageant. When Glenn's letter hit the state director's inboxes, Robin sent a text to Kelly, Glenn's daughter.

Hey, Kelly.

Your dad is now threatening lawsuits against board members of the former Miss America organization and claiming that he has fired me, which he has no authority with which to do so, of course. He has sent letters out to various individuals as well as is making phone calls to people on my staff. If you have any enlightenment as to how to proceed with him, please let me know.

He has lost his mind. I had offered to sign everything over to you and your daughters. This insanity of a campaign is so hurtful to Miss America. Is there anything you can do?

That's where Kelly and Robin's texts end. At least judging by what we can see in the evidence, Kelly left her on read.

And then the lawsuits begin.

First, Glenn filed a lawsuit in Palm Beach County claiming he owned Miss America, and Robin was, quote, holding the company hostage after he tried to fire her. The lawsuit also alleges that Fleming had improperly paid herself more than $ 200, 000. Here's reporter Annetta Constantinides again to break down the timeline.

And just a heads up, there's some really disturbing language here.

In the summer of 2024, the court orders Robin and Glenn to have a conciliation conference.

That's another term for a mediation conference. And in her RICO complaint.

Robin says that during this meeting, Glenn continues to threaten her. She says that he calls himself Hamas and her Israel. And she says that he also calls himself Hitler. Throughout all of this craziness, you have Chantel Krebs telling the state directors, no, no, I gave the pageant to Robin. Robin is the rightful owner.

Glenn told an Atlantic City news outlet that if Robin didn't relinquish control of the accounts and passwords within 48.

Hours, she could be criminally charged. For the record, she never was.

Glenn held a Zoom meeting with Miss America's business partners, and he sent a more strongly worded letter to the stakeholders. And Robin Fleming doubled down, now stating that she was the sole owner of Miss America.

And she said, quote, Meanwhile, you have Glenn saying, Robin is using Miss America's scholarship money to pay for her legal defenses.

She's robbing the pageant.

And this is starting to spill out into the media.

Amid all the back and forth, the Miss America brand took a hit.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade drops Miss America, who's been involved since like the 1940s.

It's just kind of a mess.

And then in November of 2024, Glenn files a petition for bankruptcy on behalf of Miss America.

The bankruptcy petition was filed in the name of Miss America Competition LLC. It claimed the company owed approximately $ 4. 1 million to a long list of creditors. According to Robbins' complaint, Glenn told her he didn't care if the bankruptcy shut down Miss America because, quote, he had better things to do with his time. But there was a fundamental problem.

The very person who'd authorized the bankruptcy, Glenn... was still fighting in another court to prove that he owned the company and had the authority to file the bankruptcy in.

The first place.

So that kind of takes it to a whole new level because Robin files an emergency response saying Glenn can't file for bankruptcy because he's not the rightful owner and Miss America's not in debt.

Robin claimed the debts were paid. How they were paid and who paid them are not in the public record.

And she's saying he's just trying to sabotage the Miss America pageant, which is happening like weeks from when this is all going on.

A bankruptcy judge dismissed the case, but did not decide who owned Miss America. That fight morphed once again into a third lawsuit, the mother of all the lawsuits.

Robin files her own lawsuit against Glenn and his lawyer, seeking $ 500 million in damages and saying they've tarnished her name, they've hurt Miss America. And so now we've got two like warring lawsuits in play.

Now Robin is trying to prove that Glenn has a pattern of using his money and power to extort women, and that she's just his latest victim. So what is this alleged pattern? We'll get into that after the break.

Okay, y'all still with me? Let's recap.

Glenn Straub allegedly fired Robin Fleming in April 2024. Then he filed a lawsuit to assert his ownership of the Miss America pageant. In the midst of that, he petitioned to file for bankruptcy on behalf of Miss America. But Robin was like, last I checked, you're not the owner. And also, we're not broke anymore. So Glenn said, my bad, never mind, and the court dismissed the bankruptcy case. The judge did not make a ruling on Miss America's ownership.

But it didn't matter, because after that, Robin was apparently fed up. So she filed a RICO case.

Yes, RICO, as in the.

Federal racketeering laws first designed to target the mafia.

But this is a civil RICO.

Robin is not trying to get Glenn sent to prison. She's trying to prove an alleged pattern with his business.

And she's seeking $ 500 million in damages and fees. She is alleging that Glenn used his company, Palm Beach Polo, to threaten her.

She also says he and the company used false documents in the bankruptcy filing to damage her and her business, Miss America. Glenn and his lawyer respond by telling the RICO.

Judge, don't even worry about all of that. We have a counterclaim. And in it, we're asking you to just go ahead and declare Glenn the owner. We got the paperwork right here.

Okay, we're gonna pick up the story there. Everybody take a deep breath Now let's get back on this roller coaster. To support the counterclaim, Glenn and his lawyer submitted operating agreements in minutes from two Miss America company meetings.

These were their receipts.

The documents were dated December 2022, when Miss America was sold. On paper, they appeared to establish Glenn's control from the very beginning.

But Robin's attorney was like, wait, let me see those? Man, these were not written in 2022. That's right.

Glenn and his lawyer submitted fabricated documents in a court of law. The presiding judge, Donald Middlebrooks, looked into the documents and he confirmed it.

Annetta Constantinides again.

It was March 2026. A federal judge found that Glenn and his lawyer had fabricated operating agreements and meeting minutes to try and prove that they were the owners of Miss America.

Glenn's lawyer claimed the documents were a recreation.

He said the original copies had been stored on a laptop and that the laptop.

Was stolen in Ecuador. Is that the lawyer version of the dog ate my homework?

Glenn's lawyer said he reconstructed the documents from memory using an old real estate document as a template. We asked Glenn about these fabricated documents and he said that part isn't his business.

It's because lawyers handle our law force.

I don't.

Once they buy something, I manage it. That's what my job is.

The judge in the Federal Rico case was not impressed. He dismissed Glenn's federal counterclaim and wrote a scathing assessment of both Straub and his attorney. We've had a voice actor read Judge Donald Middlebrooks' words. He started by criticizing Straub's attorney.

He lacked emotional expression, even when being accused of forgery. His only passion seemed to be his devotion to Mr.

Straub. I did not believe his explanations. Mr.

Straub was not credible either. He resorted to obfuscation. He did not answer questions directly. When asked a simple yes or no question, he would deliver a stream of consciousness response, unconnected to any issue in the case. He attributed his lack of responsiveness to medical and learning deficiencies, but I find that his evasiveness was deliberate.

Mr.

Straub is intelligent, and he was articulate when he chose to be. His claimed infirmity was situational, depending on what he was asked. He was more than capable in answering questions when explaining and supporting his version of events. But whenever pressed on the fraudulent documents, he fell back on feigned confusion and statements like, I have to trust these professionals.

I did not believe Mr. Straub.

Judge Middlebrooks' sanctions decision means that Robin Fleming is now, by default, the owner of Miss America. But on October 22nd, Judge Middlebrooks held that the ownership question.

Is a matter for the jury.

There's also still that Palm Beach County lawsuit Glenn filed for ownership that hasn't been decided. For now, Glenn owes Robin and Miss America $ 2. 3 million in attorney's fees. And the Rico case is not over. A judge has yet to rule on the many other causes of action in the case. And he damn sure hasn't awarded the $ 500 million Robin's side is seeking.

On my call with Glenn, I asked him where the Rico case is now. He brought up something called a predicate act.

In the context of RICO cases, predicate acts are the individual alleged violations that have to be established to make a case that there's a pattern of activity.

This tape is hard to hear, but Glenn himself brought up ex-girlfriends as predicate acts. All of our lawyers shaking our heads and saying, What does that have to do with this?

Well, Robin's alleging fraud, extortion, civil conspiracy, defamation, and a whole slew of other violations against her and her business by Glenn and his business. She says Glenn has a pattern of doing this to women. Establishing this alleged pattern will be key to Robin proving her RICO claims. I mentioned this last episode. There's a Palm Beach Post article about Glenn with the headline, Polo Developer Dates Women, Then Sues Them. Glenn's alleged M.O. seems to be offering these women a job or compensation to complete a task. In some cases, he allegedly offered a loan. Then, allegedly, when the women break up with him or make it clear they don't want anything romantic, Glenn sues them.

Robin says she's just one of the women on this list.

In her complaint, Robin alleges Straub conducted and or participated directly or indirectly in the conduct of the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and specifically extortion by using threats of physical harm or substantial economic losses against numerous women he has targeted to compel the surrender of their bodies or their property, including Ms.

Fleming.

Robin is basically saying that when women reject Glenn, he uses his money and his company to pressure and threaten them. Robin's complaint goes on to detail situations with several different women.

They are the predicate acts Glenn was talking about.

One of the women filed a complaint against Glenn in 2021. In her complaint, the 31-year-old woman alleges that Glenn offered her a job at one of his companies and told her to fly to Palm Beach so they can talk about it. She alleges that when she got there, he made it clear sex was a part of the deal.

When she told him she wouldn't have sex with him, the woman claims he told her, quote, This is what I do.

I like beautiful women. I'm not like Jeffrey Epstein, who has 13-year-olds. This is what I enjoy.

Then he told her he would be interviewing other candidates for the role and refused to reimburse her for her plane ticket.

Glenn denies those allegations.

Another one of the predicate acts involves a case I mentioned in the last episodes. Glenn was criminally charged with filing false liens against his 42-year-old ex-girlfriend.

Those charges were later dropped.

The last two women I'm going to tell you about rarely put into context what's at stake with the Miss America pageant. The first was a local contestant in Florida who Glenn allegedly met at Miss USA.

Apparently, she told Glenn she'd.

Lost her job and that she was losing her eyesight. So Glenn says he decided to help her.

I like daddy. Over a lot of people, not just my own kids, but I'm a daddy for a lot of people.

He ain't my daddy. What happens next is contested. In court filings, Glenn and Robin both agree that Glenn.

Offered her a $ 5, 000 loan on behalf of Miss America.

Technically, his lawyer sent the offer over email.

Glenn says this was so she could buy a pageant dress and continue competing. In the email, Glenn's lawyer categorized it as a hardship loan. In Robin's complaint, she says Glenn introduced himself to this woman as a Miss America business partner. Robin alleges that Glenn told the contestant he could get her into the top three at the Miss Florida pageant. I mean, what kind of alleged bribe is that?

Not even the Miss Florida title, just top three? When the email from Glenn's lawyer about the loan hit her inbox, she sent it to a friend who ran an anonymous pageant Instagram account. In a 2024 hearing, Robbins said that person posted a picture of the check on Instagram, along with Glenn's mugshot.

From a previous case. I guess that got back to Glenn and his lawyer and they didn't like it.

Allegedly, the pageant contestant then started getting emails from Glenn's lawyer on Miss America Letterhead. Glenn's lawyer was demanding the contact info for her friend who made the post. When she didn't comply, he threatened to bar her from the Miss Florida competition. Robin also alleges that Glenn tried to charge the loan back to Miss America's line of credit.

She said she had a conversation with Glenn about this where she told him Miss America does not give out loans.

She said his actions could be a felony.

Glenn told me that he gave the loan out of the kindness of his heart and that Robin is just twisting this whole thing.

We give her a opportunity to borrow $ 5, 000 for a dress because I want to see that a blind girl could go ahead and Megan, I think that's a good promotion basis for somebody to say anybody can make it. And so how could that vicious woman turn that around?

These are serious allegations. Miss America is a competition with a monetary prize. So tipping the scales our offering to do so is a real violation.

According to Robbins' complaint, This situation is an example of how Glenn and his company were committing fraud, falsely claiming that they were acting in the name of Miss America. The last woman I'm going to tell you about is named Carrie Will. If this episode is a rollercoaster, then Carrie's story is the last steep drop. In 2024, Carrie filed a civil complaint against Palm Beach Polo, Glenn Straub, and one of his other businesses. Robin Fleming included parts of that complaint in her RICO case. We've had a voice actor read part of it.

What does a brazen and notorious self-proclaimed billionaire, who is a predator and already facing criminal charges for his prior treatment of victims, do when his unrelenting, manipulative, and unwarranted advances are spurned by yet another woman, this time 38 years his junior, who has no interest whatsoever in a romantic or sexual relationship with him? While the answer should be that the billionaire, who is Straub, should respect her decision, leave her alone, and wish her well, that did not happen here. Instead, Straub ignored Miss Wales' rejection of him and continued aggressively pursuing her and preying upon her, despite the fact that she was a vulnerable single mother working two jobs to support herself.

And her family.

And when Miss Wales refused to give in to Straub's untoward advances, he set out to punish her, personally and financially, and did just that. getting her fired from her job, among other nefarious things.

According to the complaint, Carrie met Glenn in 2022 when she was working as a bartender in a restaurant called The Stallion. The Stallion is in a building Glenn owns.

Glenn allegedly introduced himself to Carrie as the owner of Miss America. He allegedly told her he was starting a women's empowerment movement and that she could be the leader, voice, and face of the movement. He allegedly then suggested that she could work with Miss America as a vice president. Carrie says she agreed to meet with Glenn, thinking Rob and Fleming would also be.

There, but she wasn't. It was just the two of them.

Carrie alleges that Glenn made it clear he was interested in more than just a business relationship. She says Glenn eventually offered her a role as a personal assistant, making 5K a month. According to Carrie's complaint, the employment contract mentioned companion services. Carrie alleges that Glenn said, companion services meant sex.

Carrie refused.

She claimed she told him she was only interested in a professional role and that sex was off the table. She says Glenn agreed and seemed to understand, but his advances.

Did not stop.

According to the complaint, Glenn invited her to his house to work on something. In that instance, she alleges that Glenn insisted she come to his room where he wanted to show her a mural on the ceiling. He invited her to lay down. Then he allegedly asked her to cross her leg over his. Carrie says she was uncomfortable and made up a reason to leave.

She included a text in the complaint that Glenn allegedly sent after that encounter. We've had a voice actor read it.

You really felt uncomfortable in my bedroom? Hopefully you'll take another shot at it.

Carrie says the text from Glenn got increasingly inappropriate.

Come over if you feel up to me rubbing your feet with my tongue.

Ugh.

Carrie says she continued to rebuff Glenn's advances. She started dodging his calls and meetings.

According to her complaint, Glenn left her this voicemail, which we've had read by a voice actor.

What?

You think I have leprosy you can't call me?

You can't get leprosy through your phone.

Give me a call, hon.

Bye.

I'll give you an offer you can't refuse.

Do you know how old you have to be to reference leprosy?

Call Glenn. Always something. Sorry you're not ready for a real relationship. Not hungry because I've been arguing with you but if you want to have lunch with a great possibly companion call if not now maybe you can come to your senses no photo why do you promise and always leave me hanging i think i try to work with you but you don't go halfway what's next I got some rest and had time to think about what I'm asking. What is wrong? A psychologist? Who hurt you so much? Maybe not emotional. Then it's physical. I'm trying to help you, but maybe I'm not the one.

I understand.

Who hurt you? Who put Glenn onto that one?

According to Carrie's complaint, Glenn's inappropriate behavior didn't end with text. He was willing to take extreme measures to get what he wanted. She said she often used her dog, Cream, as an excuse.

To avoid Glenn.

You know, sorry I can't meet up, gotta take Cream on a walk, that kind of stuff. Carrie says Glenn got tired of the dog excuses and decided to do something about it. According to the complaint, Glenn or one of his associates allegedly came to Carrie's house and let Cream out of the gate. Then she alleges that Glenn called animal control and said the dog was a danger to the neighborhood. One of Glenn's lawyers filed an affidavit claiming the dog had been aggressive to humans, which Carrie.

Of course, says is not true. Cream was detained for 10 days before Carrie got him back.

But for Carrie, the final straw came when Glenn allegedly got her fired from her job.

Remember, Glenn owned the building she worked in.

In her court filings, Carrie said it was Glenn's attempt to drive her to him by leaving her with no options.

She filed a complaint against Glenn instead.

Glenn denies all of these allegations, and the case was eventually dismissed.

It's not hard to see why Robin.

Fleming is including the testimony and complaints of these women in her RICO case against Glenn. While they are just allegations, they do shed light on the situation between Robin and Glenn. If these allegations are true, it makes a case that Glenn is doing the same thing to Robin. It also makes the case that Glenn should be kept very far away from the Miss America pageant and the young women competing.

But the question I'm left with is why would Robin want to bring this man anywhere near a pageant? We reached out to Robin to ask her if she knew about the allegations against Glenn before she partnered with him.

She declined to answer.

So we don't know what Robin knew about Glenn before they went into business together. But in her recent deposition, Robin does allude to Glenn's easily Googled mugshot.

Robin's text with Glenn's daughter Kelly also seemed to show they both understood that Glenn's name shouldn't be associated with the Miss America brand. Robin Fleming is not.

Responsible for Glenn Straub's actions, but she is responsible for the thousands of young women competing in the Miss America system, which means it matters who she partners with. She's the one who gave Glenn proximity to this pageant.

It's the one thing she and Glenn actually agree on.

She brought him into the Miss America fold. Maybe she thought he would just remain a quiet funder, but clearly that plan backfired. Right now, we're waiting to see if the civil RICO case will go to trial. What happens next will determine what version of Miss America survives. When my team first discovered these texts and legal documents, we were surprised by how messy.

It all was. For Miss America, It's a direct contradiction to an organization that's taken great measures to remain prim and proper.

I understand that a lot of people in the pageant community will not be happy to hear this. There are thousands of people who've dedicated their lives to Miss America. Volunteers, coaches, participants. And some of them are beginning to ask some difficult questions. Like Stuart Williams, a lifelong volunteer who you'll meet in the next episode.

If this man was suddenly in charge of it, What would happen?

The saddest part in all of this is that the people who are really affected by these decisions don't get a say in this.

Here's Annetta Constantinides again.

The ones getting really screwed in the process are the women who are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on dresses and coaching and walking lessons. And meanwhile, you have these adults like going at it.

And yet young women are still signing up to participate. On the next episode, our team is going on the road to meet some of them.

Please welcome our Rating Miss America 2026, singing the National Anthem.

And we're asking a simple question.

Why?

I think you have to be a little crazy to do this, if I'm honest. The National Anthem Miss.

America Your willing subjects are out there waiting for you. The new Miss America, here she comes!

Thanks for listening to The Curse of Miss America. We appreciate the support.

We'd love for you to really show your support by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts.

If you love the show, tell your group chat, your co-workers, your friends, your mama to check us out. And if you don't, maybe keep that one to yourself. Thanks again to all of our listeners.

The Curse of Miss America is a production of Glass Podcast, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcast. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning, and Ben Fetterman. Hosted and produced by me, Bridget Armstrong. Our producer is Taka Zen. Our associate producer is Arlene Arevalo.

Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Additional production by Amber Watson and Caitlin Golden. Our voice actors for this episode are Bill Algeo, Carrie Hartman, Trey Morgan, Rocky Ault, Sydney Gladu, Lauren Flowers, and Todd Gans. Production management by Kristen Melchiorri. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Audio editing and mixing by Tanner Robbins and Dean Welsh. Mixing and mastering by Anna McLean and additional work by Matt DelVecchio.

Our theme was composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MyMusic. Special thanks to everyone we interviewed for this podcast, especially the pageant contestants for sharing their stories. If you have a pageant related experience you'd like to share with us, email us at MissAmericaPod at gmail.com. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Also check out the Glass Podcast Instagram at Glass Podcast for Curse of Miss America behind the scenes content and more.

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Will the Real Owner Please Stand Up? | EP 3 | Curse of Miss America

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