Miss Universe CEO Denies Rigging Allegations, Says Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel Is the 'Rightful' Winner

Amid rigging allegations, an official of the Miss Universe Organization said that Miss USA 2022 R'Bonney Gabriel won the beauty pageant's crown fair and square.

Amy Emmerich, CEO of the Miss Universe Organization, told TMZ that an independent party handled the results.

Emmerich noted that "one of the top four accounting firms" in the U.S. handled the results and verified the process.

Gabriel has made history by becoming the first Filipina-American to win the Miss Universe competition on Saturday night.

According to Emmerich, R'bonney was the "rightful Miss Universe" because she was a "strong and dedicated contestant."

The Miss Universe Organization further noted that the baseless rigging allegations were absurd and only distracted the "incredible milestones our organization and the delegates experienced this weekend."

Conflict of Interest Caused the Miss Universe 2022 Rigging Allegations

Many fans accused Anne Jakrajutatip, the new owner of Miss Universe, of rigging the beauty pageant for Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel, who won the Miss Universe 2022 crown over runner-up Miss Venezuela.

According to the fans, there was a conflict of interest since Jakrajutatip, the chief executive of JKN Global Group owns both the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants.

They also believed that Gabriel won the crown because this year's Miss Universe was held in New Orleans, on U.S. soil.

This was not the first time Gabriel's victory was met with rigging allegations. The 28-year-old fashion designer and model became the first Filipina-American to win Miss USA in October 2022 after she first became Miss Texas USA in December 2021.

Many of Gabriel's rivals in Miss USA thought that the competition was rigged to favor her, Business Insider reported.

According to Miss Missouri Mikala McGhee, many contestants felt it was the organization's plan from the beginning for Gabriel to win, regardless of who else was competing.

McGhee and the other contenders left the platform after Gabriel was named Miss USA.

McGhee told Insider that they did it "to send a statement that we all had an idea of what was really going on behind the scenes," adding that they felt "disrespected and paraded around for a show."

Crystle Stewart, president of Miss USA, and her company, Miss Brand Corporation, were suspended by the Miss Universe Organization in late October, pending the outcome of an independent investigation into the rigging allegations, CNN reported.

Many Miss USA contestants cited multiple conflicts of interest between Gabriel and the pageant's national sponsors.

According to reports, two of Miss USA's national sponsors, namely Miss Academy, the pageant school owned by Stewart, and the med spa Mia Beauté, were also state sponsors for Miss Texas USA.

Both companies are based in Houston, Texas, where Gabriel lived before winning the Miss USA title.

Stewart earlier denied any claims that the pageant was rigged and that she was cooperating with the investigation.

R'Bonney Gabriel, the First Filipina-American to Win Miss Universe 2022

R'Bonney Gabriel made history in December 2021 when she won the title of Miss Texas USA, being the first Asian American to do so, PEOPLE reported.

The Houston native spoke with ABC News in October about how she felt a "big responsibility" to positively recognize her multicultural background while representing the state, hoping it could empower others to do the same.

"My dad moved to America from the Philippines on a college scholarship with about $20 in his pocket. He wanted to pave a new life for himself. He met my mom in Texas, who is a country woman from Beaumont. I'm a very proud Filipina Texan," Gabriel told ABC News' local affiliate in Houston.

The model and designer reportedly runs her own fashion company, R'Bonney Nola, which combines sustainable design techniques and a combination of reused and natural textiles for all its clothes.

Gabriel is also a sewing instructor for the Houston-based nonprofit Magpies and Peacocks, which creates sustainable apparel using post-consumer clothing, scrap textiles, and accessories diverted from landfills.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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