R‘Bonney Gabriel became the new Miss Universe 2023 on Saturday, at the 71st edition since the pageant was first held.
The 28-year-old fashion designer, who represents the United States, won the crown in a tightly contested competition that has caused plenty of controversy.
After the announcement of R’Bonney Gabriel‘s victory, many on social networks have risen up en masse against the judges’ decision and have even claimed that the contest was fixed, as they consider that the winner should have been the Venezuelan Amanda Dudamel, who finished as first runner-up.
A large majority of the public considered it unfair that the US representative prevailed over the Venezuelan candidate.
The decision came as a surprise after Amanda Dudamel became the favorite among viewers and social media followers, which is why there was so much indignation after R’Bonney Gabriel took home the crown.
The judges’ decision did not leave the public happy. Many expressed disbelief after the crown was awarded to Miss USA and the signs of discontent are widespread.
The United States is now the nation with the most victorious Miss Universe contestants, with a total of nine winners. On the other side is Venezuela, a nation that has had seven beauty queens, a figure that could have increased, tied with the USA, if Amanda Dudamel had won this year.
The controversial Miss USA election
As far back as the selection of the national Miss USA pageant in October 2022, some fellow contestants complained that the selection of R’Bonney Gabriel was fraudulent.
“Most of the contestants feel very strongly that there was favoritism towards Miss Texas and we have the receipts to prove it,” explained Miss Montana, Heather Lee O’Keefe.
R’Bonney Gabriel became the first Filipino-American woman to take home the title.
Who is R’Bonney Gabriel?
The new Miss Universe is a 28-year-old model born in San Antonio.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion and Apparel Design from the University of North Texas, which she completed in 2018.
After graduating, R’Bonney created her own clothing line, while also managing to partner with Magpies & Peacocks, where she works as a master seamstress.
Sabotage, discrimination and more controversy at Miss Universe
The Miss Universe pageant is not without controversy. The issue has already started with the takeover of the international pageant by transgender businesswoman Anne Jakrajutatip, owner of the conglomerate JKN Global Group.
Allegations of discrimination, homophobia and attempts to sabotage the beauty queens plagued the build-up to the pageant.
Miss Bolivia’s representative, Fernanda Pasivic, lost her place in the pageant when she mocked other candidates during a live broadcast on Instagram. Her comments against the representatives of Argentina (Barbara Cabrera), Paraguay (Leah Ashmore), Brazil (Mia Mamede) and El Salvador (Alejandra Guajardo) were called racist, discriminatory and homophobic.
In the preliminaries of the pageant, Miss Peru, Alessia Rovegno, paraded in a red gown representing the Amazonian sunset. However, her director, Jessica Newton, warned via Instagram that there had been an attempt to sabotage the Peruvian queen, suggesting her shoes and headdress were missing.
The group photo session with the Miss Universe candidates was not free of controversy either. Miss Ukraine, on seeing the Russian representative arrive, was uncomfortable and asked Miss Colombia, Maria Fernanda Aristizabal, to change her place to avoid being too close to the Russian model.
This was an image that went viral on TikTok, as did a backstage video of the pageant on January 11, in which several candidates claimed they had been ignored by the make-up artists of MUBA Cosmetics, official sponsor of Miss Universe, who preferred to attend to the Venezuelan Amanda Dudamel.