Miss Universe and Miss America, two of the biggest pageant competitions in the world, are both facing backlash from recent controversy.
Miss Universe features contestants from nations ranging from Albania to Venezuela. The annual competition took place on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, and featured evening gown and swimsuit competitions as well as musical performances from The Band Perry, Seal, and Charlie Puth. The competition was judged by the likes of Perez Hilton and Niecy Nash, and was hosted by Steve Harvey.
Harvey made headlines when, at the end of the pageant, he anointed the wrong Miss Universe. He initially named Miss Colombia the winner, but later returned to the microphone to say that Miss Philippines had actually won.
“I want to apologize emphatically to Miss Philippians and Miss Columbia. This was a terribly honest human mistake and I am so regretful," Harvey apologized via Twitter. While this Tweet has an empathetic tone, it is important to note that he spelled both Philippines and Columbia incorrectly. He deleted this Tweet and posted a new spell-checked apology, saying “I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible.”
According to USA Today, Harvey claimed that he announced the wrong winner because he misread the scorecard. However, some have been speculating that the mistake was actually a planned publicity stunt. “You guys buying this? I’m no conspiracy theorist, but this smells fishy to me. Sounds like a big PUBLICITY STUNT to get everyone talking about Miss Universe, when normally (let’s be honest, now!) NO ONE would be talking about Miss Universe” Raoul Martinez, a San Diego news anchor, posted on Facebook, according to The Washington Post.
NHS Senior Laura Hornby echoed this doubt. “I would hope it was just a mistake because it’s really humiliating for Miss Colombia, but it could have been planned because it’s getting more publicity than it ever would otherwise,” Hornby said.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who seems to have a controversial opinion on everything, had owned Miss Universe until July 2015, at which point he sold it to the talent agency WME/IMG. “Very sad what happened last night at the Miss Universe Pageant. I sold it 6 months ago for a record price. This would never have happened!” he tweeted after the televised debacle.
In a perhaps more serious pageantry scandal, Miss Puerto Rico Destiny Velez, a participant in the Miss America competition, was recently suspended because of anti-Islamic remarks. "Muslims use our constitution to terrorize USA & plant gas stations," "there's NO comparison between Jews, Christians & Muslims. Jews nor Christians have terrorizing agendas in their sacred books, and "all what Muslims have done is provided oil & terrorize this country & many others!!!!!!” Velez posted on a Twitter account that has since been deleted according to CNN. Velez posted these hateful message in response to film director Michael Moore’s “We are all Muslim” campaign.
"Miss Velez's actions were in contradiction to the organization, and therefore as a consequence of her actions, she has been suspended indefinitely. The Miss Puerto Rico Organization will not tolerate any actions or behavior contrary to the Miss Puerto Rico Organization,” The Miss Puerto Rico organization stated to explain Velez’s suspension according to the New York Daily News.
After the suspension, Velez apologized for her Tweets via the Miss Puerto Rico Twitter account. “"I apologize to the people I have offended with my words. I am first and foremost an #UpStander and as such I stand up against bullying. The last thing I wanted to do was to bully anyone. Again, I apologize to anyone who felt offended with my words," she said.
Many are applauding Miss Puerto Rico’s decision to suspend Velez and stand against her hateful rhetoric. “I think it’s perfectly fine that they kicked her out. Miss USA is supposed to represent America and those views are not representative of our country,” NHS senior Kayla Sippin said.
Though some situations are clearly more serious than others, pageantry organizations are dealing with many scandals.
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