LauRen’s Take: Was The Miss USA Pageant Was Rigged?
Was the Miss USA pageant rigged for Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel to win? According to the NY Post, Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe has taken to TikTok to explain why she thinks Gabriel – was predetermined to be the winner.
“Most of the Miss USA contestants feel very strongly that there was favoritism towards Miss Texas USA,” O’Keefe claims in a TikTok video. “And we have the receipts to prove it.” But O’Keefe’s not alone – other contestants have piped up and pointed out that, unlike other pageants, just about everyone walked off the stage instead of rushing to congratulate Ms. Gabriel.
But that’s not the only trouble facing the organization, and I think the bigger problem here is that judges/sponsors had their hands in too many things. It is okay to sponsor a state pageant AND a national title in the same year, but it is NOT okay for the sponsor to judge if they have a personal relationship with a contestant. So for a judge to be reposting only one contestant (that they sponsored on the state level) on social media, in my opinion, is in poor taste. Not sure if that is considered “cheating,” since they only judged one phase of competition and were NOT a finals judge, but it is definitely frowned upon.
O’Keefe also says that the 2021 class of contestants is fired up too– and confronting the Miss USA Organization with their own allegations. While she won’t detail them out of respect to the women reportedly coming forward – she has hinted they’re related to the women being harassed or worse.
Responding to the claims, Gabriel tells E! News’The Rundown that the pageant “was not rigged.” “I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I know I would win,” she explains. “I have a lot of integrity… I would love to communicate with [Heather O’Keefe] because I think there’s a lot of allegations that are coming up that aren’t true, and people are leading to conclusions that just simply aren’t true.”
I’m not sure what is going on here. Did something shady go on? Or is this a group of sour apples who did not win? Only time will tell. I am sorry for my Miss USA family either way to be honest. I had an amazing time at Miss USA. Sure there were highs and lows, but on the show and wrap party today, I shared a photo gallery from my experience at Miss USA.
Source: NY Post
#MissUSA 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel Responds to Claims Her Win Was “Rigged” https://t.co/RRjdCvSk2r
— E! News (@enews) October 7, 2022
