[1][2] During the pageant, Upton responded to a question posed by judge Aimee Teegarden: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map.

[3][4] As a guest on NBC's The Today Show shortly after the pageant, Upton told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was overwhelmed when asked the question and did not comprehend it correctly.

[10][11] Upton described this time as "very dark" and noted that she kept her struggles private, confiding only in a few trusted individuals, including her fiancé, best friend, and eventually her mother.

Upton recounted specific incidents of harassment, including being taunted by a group of students at the University of South Carolina and receiving a threatening letter in her parents' mailbox.

She has appeared in numerous national commercials, on Tosh.O, as a correspondent for Jimmy Kimmel Live, as a contestant on CBS's "The Amazing Race," as a guest host on MTV's "Ridiculousness," and in a recurring role on the HBO series "Funny or Die."

Carlson, speaking on Florida-based radio program The Bubba the Love Sponge Show, repeatedly denigrated Upton's intelligence and expressed inappropriate speculation on her sexual behavior.

[18][19] On August 29, 2024, Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, ahead of an interview that CNN would broadcast that evening in which Trump's election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, explained some of her policy shifts, posted a video of Upton giving the infamous answer about maps with the caption "BREAKING: I have gotten ahold of the full Kamala Harris CNN interview.

She highlighted the ongoing issue of online bullying and encouraged those experiencing similar challenges to seek support from relevant organizations,[27] stating, "It's a shame that 17 years later this is still being brought up.