ABC News has just produced an in-depth documentary about the scandals and crises taking place at Miss Universe and Miss USA, two of the world's largest beauty pageants.
Miss Universe 2024 has just found a new owner, Victoria Kjær Theilvig - a 21-year-old beauty from Denmark. She is an animal rights activist and wants to become a lawyer. Victoria is the first Danish person to be crowned.
This year's pageant witnessed something unprecedented in more than a decade when Alma Cooper - a West Point Military Academy alumnus, active duty military member crowned Miss USA and currently studying for a master's degree at Stanford, failed to make it to the Miss Universe semi-finals.
From the contracts contestants must sign to participate, to the legal troubles the owners face, to the organization of the pageant's production... many problems have occurred, painting a picture of an organization in turmoil, possibly the end of Miss USA or Miss Universe.
ABC News documentary about the Miss Universe Organization:
Video: ABC News
In its documentary, ABC News interviewed Rafa Delphine - a beauty pageant expert for nearly 30 years and founder of the blog Critical Beauty. Rafa Delphine commented that the production of Miss Universe 2024 was a disaster, lacking the magic of previous Miss Universe pageants that audiences were familiar with.
Most notably, the contestants' performance time was significantly cut in the semi-finals. "Many of the 127 girls spent 6 months to 1 year preparing, but only appeared for 1-2 seconds. It was clearly a pure business - the more countries participated, the more money they made. I think this year they sacrificed quality for quantity. That left fans disappointed and upset," Delphine commented.
The pageant’s reputation has been further undermined by ethical issues among Miss Universe’s leaders. Before the pageant, two figures from the Miss Universe organization, Osmel Sousa and transgender billionaire Anne Jakrajutatip, publicly livestreamed a discussion while eating and choosing the top 30 contestants.
In addition, these two characters were also involved in mocking Miss Lebanon - Nada Koussa, leading to the contestant temporarily withdrawing from the contest, the country also demanded an apology from the Miss Universe Organization. The Miss Universe Organization later apologized and the video was removed from social media.
The situation is getting worse when both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA (part of the Miss Universe Organization) are stepping down in 2023 - an unprecedented event in the 70-year history of the pageant. In an 8-page resignation letter obtained by ABC News , Miss USA 2023 - Noelia Voigt said she was giving up the crown "for physical and mental health" and denounced a "toxic work environment" under the management of president Layla Lewisley (aka Layla Rose).
Claudia Englehart, former social media director of the Miss Universe Organization, revealed details of the terrible working environment after just 2 weeks on the job, describing: "Leaders put down, heavily criticize, hurt others, do not support them".
She accused Layla Rose of micromanaging her staff, even taking control of Miss USA's official Instagram account, blocking followers, posts, and comments under the queen's name. Of the three people with access to the account - including Claudia and Noelia - none of them posted those comments, leaving the only possibility that Rose did.
In messages obtained by ABC News , Noelia directly confronted Layla Rose and the Miss USA team, writing: "I see someone is commenting on my behalf. I am not comfortable with this at all."
The comments Noelia referred to included statements like, “Thank you Layla Rose for making this all happen,” and “She did so much. Love, our president.” While this behavior is not technically illegal, it raises serious ethical issues.
ABC News reports that the current Miss USA, Alma Cooper, has hired an attorney regarding her role. However, her team declined to comment on the matter.
When ABC News reached out to Layla Rose for comment, they also did not receive a response.
Immediately after the documentary aired, the Miss Universe Organization quickly issued an official response, firmly denying all accusations, saying that this was baseless and misleading information, aimed at destroying the organization's reputation.
In a statement, Miss Universe said it takes special care to protect the reputation of its leaders and members. They are described as people of recognized honor, who demonstrate high moral character and live by the organization's core values.
The organization also expressed disappointment with the way the media reported the news without any verification or evidence. Miss Universe said it reserves the right to take legal action against false information.
Finally, the Miss Universe Organization affirms that it will not let these "unfounded distractions" affect its mission. The organization is committed to continuing its role in promoting unity, celebrating diversity and supporting women's empowerment.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/abc-news-phanh-phui-loat-be-boi-tai-miss-universe-va-miss-usa-2344713.html
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