Kate Dixon is set to represent the state of Washington at Miss Teen USA 2022, but many are calling to revoke her crown. 

In an interview with FOX 13, Dixon pleads her case, saying three years ago she was peer pressured into saying the n-word by an upperclassman. She says she did not know she was being recorded when she said it.

“They coerced me into saying a racial slur. I told them, ‘no, I don’t want to say that,'” said Kate. “I know that it’s not appropriate. And they told me, ‘you have a free pass just this one time. It would be funny.’ So I decided, after much persuasion, I said the word that they wanted me to say, and without my knowledge, I was recorded.”

Dixon and her mother say she publicly apologized at school and numerous times after that, but she says she was bullied and received death threats. She says she has since transferred to a different school but says the video resurfaces every time she achieves something.

The pageant winner said she had learned her lesson.

“I am very deeply sorry,” Dixon said. “I have learned my lesson, and I have not used that word to this day.

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Maureen Francisco, the executive producer of Pageants Northwest, an agency that oversees four states in the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA organizations, said the group became aware of the video in Oct. 2020 and spoke to the family about the incident before the teen entered the competition. Pageants Northwest then decided to let the teen move forward with her application, although she said the n-word and other slurs.