The celebration of Miss Universe 2023 became one of the most relevant and significant ceremonies in the history of the pageant. And in addition to the triumph of Sheynnis Palacios, the first contestant from Nicaragua to take first place, the inclusion of Miss Nepal Jane Dipika Garret, the first plus-size contestant, and the opening of new guidelines, such as the acceptance of married women and divorced, made last year’s edition one of the most memorable.
However, the recent revelation of a video, where the main leaders of the contest are seen, seems to clarify that all of the above was a commercial strategy.
In this material, you can see and hear the current owner of the Miss Universe organization, Anne Jakrajutatip; the president of the contest, the Mexican Raúl Rocha; to the director of Miss Universe Mexico, Cynthia de la Vega, among other members of the organization, in a meeting held on October 21, weeks before the contest took place.
At the meeting, you can hear Jakrajutatip speak, in English, about the “Mayan Plan”: You know how our “Maya Plan” is going, we are going to accept everything, trans women, married women, divorced women, women of different ages ”.
However, what was truly “scandalous” were the subsequent words of Jakrajutatip, who mentions that this strategy is intended to make women “believe” that they can win the contest.
But only among us we know that you can compete but you can’t win, so we are going to base ourselves on social inclusion and they are going to think ‘I am part of the organization’. We are going to say to all the women ‘now you are our female companion.’”
The reactions of the people and the former director of Miss Universe Mexico, Lupita Jones
In the same video, one of the participants hears that this strategy could give rise to Miss Universe Model Agency, a multi-platform to develop a skin care line as well as a reality show. Likewise, there was talk about having a previously selected winner and even mentioned the contestant from Nepal, Garret, who was referred to as a “fat girl.”
From the first episode we talked about inclusion, making them feel part of this and right there we launched our products, that’s why team, with this we have to attack the market. Without limits!
After the video went viral, a large number of users attacked those involved and the organization for their “false inclusion,” as well as their strategy to “sell” at the expense of their contestants.
Added to the above was the opinion of the former director of Miss Universe Mexico, Lupita Jones, who mentioned, through an interview, that this strategy is a total lack of respect for the contestants.
“It makes a mockery of me, a lack of respect, to all those who are placing an illusion, a dream in that contest.”
It is worth mentioning that after the celebration of Miss Universe 2023, Lupita Jones left her position after the announcement of Cynthia de la Vega as the new director of the national pageant. In a press conference, the first Mexican winner of Miss Universe revealed that the ways in which she carried out her exit were not the best or the most professional.
Likewise, and thanks to the video in question, it can be seen that the organization already had in mind to expel Lupita Jones from her position, before the announcement, due to the inclusion of Cynthia de la Vega in the meeting and excluding the former director.
What did Miss Universe say about the controversy?
After the variety of criticisms and comments, the organization released a statement stating that the video in question was manipulated, in addition to signaling its commitment to inclusion.
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