Black Miss Universe runner-up responds after CEO claims ‘blonde with blue eyes’ winner is the ‘ultimate evolution’ of the pageant

Miss Nigeria, runner-up Miss Universe 2024 competitionresponded to a number of controversial comments from the Miss Universe CEO regarding diversity in the pageant.

On November 16 in Mexico, Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, was crowned the winner of this yr’s international pageant, marking the first time in the 73-year history of the pageant that a contestant from Denmark won.

Miss Universe CEO Anne Jakrajutatip joined Theilvig at the post-pageant press conference, and it was her response to a reporter’s query about the pageant’s progress on diversity that sparked the intense backlash:

“Evolution? We have blonde and blue eyes, so we are already at the final evolution,” said Jakrajutatip. “We don’t need any further evolution here. We already have the best here.”

In response to Jakrajutatip’s comments, Miss Universe first runner-up Chidimma Adetshina, who became the first Miss Nigeria to make it to the top five of the pageant, he told Business Insider She wasn’t offended by the comments.

“It doesn’t offend me at all,” she said. “Maybe it’s just her point of view; maybe that was how she thought about the evolution of Miss Universe.”

Jakrajutatype too got here under fire Down sharing post X which Donald Trump Jr. did about Thielvig’s victory.

“Biological and objectively attractive women can win beauty pageants again. WE WILL BE BACK,” Trump Jr. wrote. in October 18th.

Miss Universe co-owner Raul Rocha, who acquired a 50 percent stake in the Miss Universe organization in January, also shared Trump Jr.’s post. on his Instagram page.

Adetshina said she felt disheartened by Trump Jr.’s remarks.

“All crowned queens are beautiful in their own way, so by making a comment like that, I feel like he was disrespecting all the previous queens,” Adetshina said. “I understand why people didn’t like that comment and why it caused a spark on social media.”

When Jakrajutatip, a brown-haired, brown-eyed transgender woman from Thailand, took over the organization in 2022, its recent owner brought recent guarantees of evolution for the next generation and expressed interest in making the competition more inclusive.

Under her leadership, moms and married, divorced or pregnant women were allowed to compete, as were women over the age of 28.

However, there have been other controversies which have raised questions on whether Jakrajutatip’s guarantees to renew the brand are real or simply for show.

Leaked footage from a Miss Universe staff meeting in October 2023 has been posted online, showing Jakrajutatip discussing various contestants.

“Transgender women, women with husbands, divorced women… They can compete, but they can’t win. But we simply published this policy to ensure inclusivity,” she said, adding that it was a “communication strategy.”

Jakrajutatip responded to the video’s spread on the web, stating in: Post on Facebook that it was “taken out of context and used to manipulate other people, resulting in public confusion, misunderstandings, misinterpretations and erroneous conclusions.”

She stated that the topic she discussed with her staff at that meeting was a possible Miss Universe reality show, not a world pageant.