In its 74-year history, the Miss Universe pageant has faced numerous scandals, from women losing their crowns to the wrong winner being named onstage.
A new Miss Universe has officially been crowned.
Over 100 women gathered in Bangkok in November to compete for the Miss Universe title, strutting on the stage in ball gowns, swimsuits, and costumes. The competition concluded on Friday morning local time, with Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch being crowned the new winner.
The weeks leading up to the finale were full of drama, from a contestant falling off the stage to a pageant director yelling at Bosch.
However, scandal isn’t unfamiliar to the Miss Universe Organization, which has had its share of ups and downs since its inception in 1952.
Take a look back at some of the most controversial moments in the pageant’s history.Mary Leona Gage wasn’t allowed to compete at Miss Universe in 1957 after judges discovered she had lied during Miss USA.
Mary Leona Gage won the Miss USA pageant in 1957 and was supposed to represent the United States at Miss Universe.
However, as The Baltimore Sun reported, Gage’s title and crown were revoked the day after she won the pageant because the Miss Universe organization discovered that she was married, had two children, and had lied about being 18 when she was actually 21. The pageant did not allow contestants to be married or have children until 2023.
In 2005, Gage told The Baltimore Sun that she had competed in the Miss USA pageant in the hopes of escaping her husband, whom she had married at the age of 14.Bob Barker resigned as host of the pageant after 21 years in 1987.
Bob Barker served as host of both the Miss USA pageant and the Miss Universe pageant from 1966 to 1987.
But Barker was a staunch animal rights activist, so he took issue with the Miss Universe organization giving Miss USA and Miss Universe contestants fur coats as part of their prizes, as The Los Angeles Times reported. In 1987, he told the organization that he would not host the events in the future if the pageant continued to give contestants fur coats as part of their prize winnings.
The organization agreed to substitute the coats for faux fur options in 1987, so Barker hosted both pageants.
However, in 1988, Miss Universe planned to offer contestants fur coats again, so Barker resigned as host for good, The New York Times reported.In 1994, the pageant stripped Miss Puerto Rico of her title after she competed at Miss Universe.
As the Orlando Sentinel reported, Brenda Robles was secretly pregnant when she competed at the Miss Universe pageant, and the organization revoked her Miss Puerto Rico title and crown when they discovered she was with child.
The outgoing Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, was also from Puerto Rico. She crowned Miss India Sushmita Sen during the 1994 pageant.Donald Trump criticized Miss Universe Alicia Machado after she won the pageant in 1996.
Machado was crowned Miss Venezuela in 1995 before going on to win the 1996 Miss Universe pageant. She was just 18 years old at the time.
As The New York Times reported in 2016, Machado gained weight after she was crowned queen. She said she requested emotional and medical support from the pageant and was then made to exercise in front of the press by the Miss Universe Organization and Donald Trump, who was an executive producer for the pageant at the time.
« This is somebody who likes to eat », he told reporters of Machado during the incident.
After Hillary Clinton pointed to Trump’s criticism of Machado — saying he called her « Miss Piggy » and « Miss Housekeeping » because of her Venezuelan heritage — during a 2016 presidential debate, Trump stood behind his statements, as Business Insider previously reported. During a September 2016 « Fox and Friends » segment, he said Machado « gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem. »
Machado responded to Trump in a press conference organized by Clinton’s campaign, saying she developed bulimia and anorexia because of Trump’s treatment.
« He always treated me like garbage », she said.Miss Lebanon dropped out of the pageant in 2002 because of global politics.
Christina Sawaya was crowned Miss Lebanon in 2002. But unlike other champions that year, she did not go on to appear at the Miss Universe pageant.
As CNN reported, Sawaya wanted to avoid competing alongside Miss Israel amid mounting tensions between the countries.In 2008, Miss Puerto Rico Ingrid Marie Rivera alleged that her makeup and clothes were pepper-sprayed during the pageant.
Ingrid Marie Rivera was crowned Miss Puerto Rico in 2008.
But after she won, Rivera said someone covered her evening gown and makeup for the pageant in pepper spray, The Associated Press reported. She said she broke out in hives and had to apply ice packs all over her body after the competition.
The AP reported that an investigation found that one of Rivera’s evening gowns and her swimsuit tested positive for pepper spray, and investigators believed two pageant employees were likely responsible for the incident.
Rivera went on to compete at Miss Universe, but Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela won the top prize.Jenna Talackova planned to sue so she could compete in the 2012 Miss Canada pageant.
Jenna Talackova wanted to compete in the 2012 Miss Canada pageant, which feeds into Miss Universe. But Talackova was initially barred from competing because she is transgender, CNN reported at the time.
Talackova hired women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred to challenge the pageant’s rule, but the pageant decided to change its policy in April 2012.
Talackova ended up participating in the 2012 Miss Canada pageant, but Sahar Biniaz beat her for the crown and went on to compete at Miss Universe. Olivia Culpo won the title while representing the USA that year.Donald Trump’s nearly 20-year run at Miss Universe came to an end in 2015 following comments he made about immigrants during his presidential campaign.
