The 2018 Maine Lobster Festival Sea Goddess said she was stripped of her crown, allegedly because festival officials received troubling social media photos of her.
Taylor Hamlin of South Thomaston was crowned this year’s Sea Goddess on Wednesday — the coronation is a tradition as old as the 71-year-old festival — and on Thursday her crown was taken from her, according to a Facebook post she made Thursday night.
The decision was made because of community members “emailing pictures of [Hamlin] throughout high school,” according to her post.
The photos were of Hamlin with a joint and using a vaping device, according to WGME.
In a statement issued Friday, Maine Lobster Festival officials said Hamlin “decided to resign her position” after meeting with members of the festival’s board of directors and the coronation committee on Thursday.
The photos that festival officials received after Wednesday’s coronation “were not in keeping with the behavior and image of the Maine Sea Goddess,” according to the statement.
Maine Lobster Festival Director Shannon Kinney said she could not comment on the nature of the photos that officials received. The statement said the photos were posted on Hamlin’s personal social media pages.
“It’s a really hard situation for everyone involved,” Kinney said.
In her Facebook post, Hamlin said she has never felt more “swept under the rug.”
“Everybody is a teen once and awhile. I’m sorry to whoever didn’t receive the goddess they wanted and felt the need to sabotage this amazing thing that has happened to me. You clearly don’t know me well enough or know the real Taylor Hamlin. I am active throughout our community, in sports, church, and school,” Hamlin wrote.
Maine Lobster Festival Crown Princess Erin Dugan will assume the duties of the 2018 Maine Sea Goddess, according to the statement.
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