Former beauty queen Brittany Mason claims she was pressured into getting “incredibly dangerous” liposuction when she was a teenager.
“I still have scars from it,” Mason told Page Six in a new interview, adding that at the time, she was a size 2, but told there were “certain expectations” for pageant hopefuls.
Mason, 40, who details her experiences in the three-part TLC documentary “Crown of Deceit: Inside the Miss Universe Scandal,” told us that she “did not heal well” from the procedure.
“I met the surgeon at an afterparty for Miss Universe,” she explained, adding that she was 5-foot-10 and 125 pounds at the time.
Mason, who was crowned Miss Indiana 2008, had a difficult childhood, and decided to use either beauty pageants or the military as her ticket to “make a better life for myself.”
In the documentary, she says that she felt “groomed” by the adults around her in the Miss USA world.
However, when asked about the comment, she told us, “I can’t say more. I would love to. I’m hoping soon … I’m working on getting total clearance on that.”
According to Mason, many other former Miss USA and Miss Universe contestants wanted to discuss their experiences in “Crown of Deceit,” but they “either felt too fearful for their safety to speak, or maybe they’re being silenced through NDAs or the law.”
The documentary details the numerous scandals that both the Miss USA and Miss Universe organizations have been hit with, including sexual misconduct allegationsagainst former Miss USA vice president Max Sebrechts and allegations of voter rigging to crown 2025’s Miss Universe winner, Fátima Bosch.
“Crown of Deceit” also covers former Miss Universe co-owner Anne Jakrajutatip’s two-year prison sentence for fraud.
In March, Mexican authorities froze Miss Universe co-owner Raúl Rocha‘s bank accounts amid an investigation for drugs, fuel and arms trafficking.Rocha has denied wrongdoing and according to the doc, he is “considered a fugitive from Mexican authorities and was last publicly reported in Monaco.”
In 2024, Jakrajutatip, who is transgender, also came under fire when she appeared in a leaked tape allegedly explaining that she opened up the competition to a more diverse pool of contestants – married, divorced, or transgender women – but said, “they can compete, but they cannot win.”
Mason slammed Jakrajutatip’s remark as “disgusting,” and told us that after years of controversies in the organization “to have all this hope for this new owner to come in and make real change – and to hear it directly from her mouth that she doesn’t really care about giving opportunities to all women – it’s shameful.”
In 2025, Mason even launched a bid to become the owner of the Miss USA organization. Ultimately, it went to Thom Brodeur.
Brodeur also appears in the documentary to discuss reforming it from past corruption.
“I have chatted with Thom,” Mason told us, adding that their conversations have been “positive” and that the current CEO, “seems like he has good intentions.”
Page Six reached out to the Miss Universe organization for comment.
Currently, Mason is launching an initiative to end “predatory contracts” and provide contestants with mental health support. Despite all the scandals, she still has hope for the Miss USA and Miss Universe organizations.
“The truth is that corruption is everywhere,” she said, citing headlines she sees “every day” about cases such as Sean “Diddy” Combs and Jeffrey Epstein.
“It really truly is going to come from the women and girls demanding better in all of these spaces.”
“Crown of Deceit: Inside the Miss Universe Scandal” is a three-episode documentary airing on TLC (8 p.m.) on Nov. 12, and streaming Nov. 13 on HBO Max.
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