A few days after several Miss USA 2022 contestants made public claims about the beauty competition being rigged, the Miss Universe organization recently shared a statement addressing the rumors.
The allegations started when Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel was declared the new Miss USA in a pageant held on Monday, October 3.
The entity published an Instagram story five days after the final, approving and encouraging women to raise their voices to express their thoughts and experiences.
"We are aware of the concerns that have been brought forth by this year’s Miss USA contestants. We commend the women for bringing these issues to our attention and will always be an organization that encourages women to use their voice," reads the post.
Miss Universe Organization's statement regarding Miss USA 2022 rumors.@missuniverse | Instagram
After confirming awareness, the institution followed up by stating that the situation is now being analyzed.
"There are existing systems in place to ensure the fairness of our national competitions as such we have begun an active review into this situation," shared the organization in the previously mentioned publication.
During the past two days, Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe has been sharing her experience in the competition on social media, claiming the pageant was rigged.
In a series of TikTok videos, Heather (@heatherleeokeefe) exposes different situations regarding Miss USA’s practices that she considers suspicious.
"The drama all started when one of the huge major sponsors posted a video almost immediately after this girl (Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel) won, showing her at the resort having this luxury vacation, which is supposed to be part of the Miss USA prize package," said the woman in a clip. "There’s no way that she was already flown out there and having all these treatments.”
The Miss USA organization hasn’t commented on these allegations as of Friday afternoon.
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