USA 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel claimed the Miss Universe 2022 crown on Saturday, but some claim she didn’t win fair and square.
Disgruntled fans say there’s a conflict of interest, since Anne Jakrajutatip, chief executive of JKN Global Group, owns both the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Fans are also suspicious about Gabriel’s win because this year’s Miss Universe pageant was held on U.S. soil, in New Orleans.
It’s not the first time onlookers have looked askance at one of Gabriel’s wins. The 28-year-old took the Miss Texas USA crown in December 2021 and then reigned victorious at Miss USA in October 2022, becoming the first Filipino-American to win the latter title, according to People.
Many of Gabriel’s other competitors thought that the Miss USA competition was rigged, Insider reported. “A lot of the girls felt like it was the organization’s plan from the beginning for R’Bonney to win, no matter who else was competing,” Mikala McGhee, who competed as Miss Missouri, told the site.
In fact, when Gabriel was announced as the new Miss USA, McGhee and other contestants walked off the stage. “It was to send a statement that we all had an idea of what was really going on behind the scenes,” McGhee said. “We felt disrespected and paraded around for a show.”
In late October, the Miss Universe Organization suspended Miss USA President Crystle Stewart and her Miss Brand Corporation, pending the results of a third-party investigation into the rigging allegations, per CNN.
Two national sponsors for Miss USA — Miss Academy, a pageant school Stewart owns, and Mia Beauté, a med spa — were also state sponsors for Miss Texas USA, Insider added.
Stewart, who was crowned Miss USA in 2008, told CNN in October the “allegations that the 2022 Miss USA pageant was in favor of one contestant over another are misleading and simply not factual.”
For her part, Gabriel told E! News in October the Miss USA competition was not rigged. “I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I know I would win,” she said. “I have a lot of integrity.”
