Miss America Kira Kazantsev admits she was forced out of Hofstra sorority

NEW YORK -- Miss America Kira Kazantsev tried to set the record straight Tuesday, fighting back against allegations that she was kicked out of a sorority at Hofstra University for abusive hazing.

On Good Morning America, she downplayed and denied details in a recent report, saying she and a friend were kicked out of their sorority Alpha Phi after "excessively harsh hazing."

"Yes, I was involved under the broad definition of hazing at some point, but never, ever in a million years what this is claiming to hold," Kazantsev said.

Instead, Kazantsev says she made a joke about it in an email.

"What was the joke that you made in that e-mail?" she was asked.

"That we would make the evening scary for the pledges," she said.

But the reporter who first broke the story on the website Jezebel, Erin Gloria Ryan, said she isn't convinced Kazantsev is telling the whole story.

"Unless the two of them were writing the email at the exact same time, then it's pretty strange that both of them would have been expelled," said Ryan.

Kazantsev, who was Miss New York, is an honors student, fluent in three languages, and wowed at the pageant by performing Pharrell Williams' "Happy" while tapping a red cup on the floor.

And while she shined as an honors student as well, there were some at Hofstra with doubts Tuesday.

"And I can't believe she didn't think about this before she decided to become someone who's an inspiration to so many people," said Hofstra sophomore Anmol Sarpal.

"It's something bigger than just that, that's my impression from the reporting that I've done and the people that I've spoken with," said Ryan.

The question is, what will Miss America do next?

"I'm going to take this negative and turn it into a positive," Kazantsev said.

"I definitely hope what she's saying is true that it wasn't that bad, really I am rooting for her," said Hofstra sophomore Lexie Mollica.