In the most talked-about beauty pageant scandal since Vanessa Williams lost her crown as Miss America back in 1984, this year’s Miss Universe pageant is continuing to make headlines. In case you missed it, (one-time, I’m sure) host Steve Harvey accidentally named runner-up Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo, Miss Colombia, as the pageant’s winner – instead of the true winner, Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurzbach. The incident, which has been responsible for some hilarious memes that have been flooding my Facebook feed (and probably yours as well), refuses to go away.
On Tuesday’s Good Morning America, pageant judge Perez Hilton, who is always good for a bitchy comment or two, shared his thoughts about Sunday’s events and cast some shade on Miss Colombia. The 37-year-old Perez said, “As a judge, and I’m looking at everything that happened, I see her [Miss Colombia] posting on Instagram that she’s the true winner. There’s a reason — many reasons — that she didn’t win.”
Perez was referring to a photo posted on Adriana’s Instagram of her 15 seconds of fame as Miss Universe, with the caption “POR SIEMPRE TU MISS UNIVERSO!! COLOMBIA!!!!!!!”, which translates to, “Forever your Miss Universe! Colombia!”
Perez also said that when he heard that Miss Colombia won, he said he thought the pageant was “rigged” because he said all of the judges (along with former Miss USA/actress Olivia Culpo, Scream Queens’ Denise Hemphill, Niecy Nash and former NFL player Emmitt Smith…what a random assortment of judges, huh?) voted for Miss Philippines. He also took a shot at Steve Harvey, saying the host “just didn’t do his job well, period.” He added, “There is a prompter but the moment where he crowns the winner isn’t on the prompter because that moment, they don’t want the other girls to know, so it was just on his card and he read it incorrectly.”
Later, on his podcast, Perez continued his rant against Miss Colombia, saying “I don’t know if the people at home could see this, but Miss Colombia was being a straight-up diva bitch. [She was] rude to her translator. She was giving the most awful side-eye, throwing major shade…Miss Colombia was not happy with the pace or the way that the translator was translating.”
But Perez isn’t the only one with something to say about the pageant – and Miss Colombia isn’t the only contestant on the receiving end of some unwarranted shade. Miss Germany, Sarah-Lorraine Riek, talked to pageant website Missosology after the pageant and had a few things to say about Miss Philippines. In the brief interview, posted on Missosology’s Facebook page, she claimed that none of her fellow contestants voted for Miss Philippines to win the competition. She also said, “I was so upset. For me, Miss France was the real winner.” She added that she felt that Miss Colombia “really deserved” to win and remarked, “None of us voted for Philippines. I’m so sorry to say it. I wish her the best of luck with her year, but I’m really not happy with the results.”
After the interview, Miss Germany(‘s publicist) took to the Miss Germany Facebook page to apologize for her comments. The statement read in part, “Miss Universe Germany Sarah-Lorraine feels sorry for her colleague and friend Miss Colombia. This must have been the worst nightmare. She never intended to offend Miss Philippines in any way. She feels sorry for both girls. As well for Pia Miss Philippines that she didn’t have her real crowning moment.” The statement went on to say, “She is really sorry if the video suggests anything else than that. It’s an emotional roller coaster what happened yesterday in Las Vegas. She and all the other girls felt so sorry for Colombia at that moment. They could all imagine how this must feel. That’s not the final result moment what you wish for anyone. And also for Pia.”
So much drama! Everyone’s jumping on the publicity train here, aren’t they? Although, if there’s a stop coming soon, you know Steve Harvey would be more than happy to get off.
photo credit: WENN.com
The miss universe crown looks like the iron throne…
So true, game of thrones lol. Now, why is Perez a judge.what r his credentials? Guess if anyone can be a judge than this is just some silly pageant. Like it or not, if there is a pageant,it should be judged by their own piers and not soap actors n gossip bloggers.
Well i dont blame steve harvey for making such mistake, i mean, i saw the paper and it is really confusing writing miss columbia as 2nd runner up. Well its all gone and we have to forget about it. Aside this is a fresh news and it must trend hehe
I don’t really understand how any of this works. How are any of them qualified to judge Miss Universe? And if it’s Miss Universe, where is the diversity on the judging panel?? And what’s up with the voting? Contestants get to vote for the winner? That’s ridiculous. They’d all vote for themselves. They’re in it to win it. And how unprofessional is it for one of the judges to make comments about the contestants? And the host? Obviously, mistakes were made, but the people under contract with the pageant could keep it classy and keep their mouths shut about it. Toe the party line.
Speaking of, I’m not sure if they were joking this morning, but on GMA, they said Steve Harvey was under contract to host for the next 3 years.
That’s what I thought when I saw the list of judges. How are these people judging a competition? What do they know about pageants, besides Olivia obviously. What a joke!
But really, you’re judging a vapid beauty contest so what ‘credentials’ does one really need? The selection says it all.
Haha, I would really hate to have to sit on that throne! 🙂
lol, thats true haha just like iron throne.
It sure does. Throne made of tin foil.
I can’t get over how different Perez Hilton looks now. Like I never would have even recognized him.
Yep, he does. It might even be something besides his huge weight loss a few years ago. I can’t be sure. But the weight loss did really change his face.
He looks like he’s had something done to his jaw as well. It used to be much more prominent?
Maybe he has more inner beauty? He’s become a nicer person (no more nasty attempts to “out” people, he’s reformed and apologized) and also a dad. Love his suit.
Eh he’s not that nice still. He posted the nude photos from the celeb hack then had the nerve to get mad at jennifer when she called him out for being disgusting and not accepting his apology. He started a dumb feud with lady Gaga over nothing and tried to drag her through the mud. He hasn’t changed…still an asshat.
@Jwoolman
Arent you fortunate to not have seen him on Celebrity Big Brother last year. He hasnt changed. He is still a malicious gossipy PoS. He just realised that letting that side out on the blog was costing him readers, advertisers and appearance opportunities like this one. Fun fact: he threatened to rape one of the contestants who also happened to be the chillest person in the Big brother house. If you think this troll looks halfway human, its credit to his cometic surgeon NOT “inner goodness”.
Steve harvey was paid truly, but to me nobody is above mistake.
I hardly recognized Perez as well. I’m going with hair plugs (or some other kind of hair procedure) because his hair was looking quite sparse there for a while.
Yes, he really looks great. For a while he looked rather pinched in the face, but now he looks fabulous.
I like what Bette Midler tweeted about the Miss Universe dust-up: “Wrong Miss Universe crowned last night. For 2 minutes. Remember when that happened with our Presudent in 2000 & we had to keep him 8 years?”
Yep. Best comment ever.
Bette’s a gem.
That comment was too damn perfect.
LOL!!
Perfect
Exactly how I felt in 2009.
Probably not, since Gore had more votes than Bush. No one had to call in the Supreme Court to stop the counting for Obama to win.
Ha! I love Bette!
Looking back, I still can’t believe that happened in my country. What an epic disaster with so many consequences.
Is anyone noticing that lovely suit Perez is wearing? That should be a post in itself
…like something Peewee Herman would wear to bed on a Holy Day of Obligation.
I have no idea what that means. But I said it & I’m sticking to it.
I would like to find the fabric and make some holiday pyjamas for the new babies in the family. My six month old nephew would rock that look
its a Roman Catholic term.
it’s an oppo suit. i saw the suits on wendy williams show
I’ve seen several athletes in it this year, too.
At first I thought it was pj’s until I looked closer. Very cute.
These $100 holiday suits are all over the place this year.
Perez Hilton’s red suit sewn from flannel would make lovely Christmas pajamas 🙂
I wish pageants would die a painful death. Why are women parading around in swimsuits for scores in 2015?
Thank you. And may I include the Victoria’s Secret whatever show that parades women in their undies as high fashion.
Really, it’s just ridiculous. I cannot believe we still have these different versions of Barbie being judged and examined on their bodies and faces, and just to make sure it’s not all t and a, they actually answer a question. So incredibly sexist, stupid and shallow. Look at the comments, how they pit women against each other based on their looks and their “niceness,” I suppose. Oh we ALL hated Miss So and So, nobody voted for her. Catty, petty crap. And that idiot claiming she really won because they called her name by mistake? Yeah, it’s all about brains and education. Ugh.
You said it all, GNAT.
This was a good opportunity for a true b*tch session. The claws were out that night.
YES
I couldn’t agree more.
Looks and niceness. Nailed it. What more does a woman need to be in THAT universe??
Bbbbbbut, the illustrious judges also assess “skills and life accomplishments” and the girls only compete to pay off their student loans…. Lmao
I cant with Steve Harvey. I double cant with that waste of oxygen, Perez Hilton. And I really cant with these competitions. So isnt it fitting that the universe has conspired to bring them together.
I’ve never watched a beauty pageant, think they’re idiotic and agree with all of you.
IT’S A SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM lol
Hahahaha!! I love Miss Congeniality.
This. I couldn’t care less about some stupid gaffe. I honestly can’t believe beauty pageants, I mean scholarship programs, are still a thing.
Because they are an industry in South American countries. Used as a way for the poor and disenfranchised to forget about their dictators and rally for national pride. For these counteries the contest is DEADLY serious. Steve Harvey better hire some body guards and wear a bullet proof vest 24/7.
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/miss-venezuela-beauty-pageant/story?id=8780813
Is it Argentina(?) that banned beauty pageants for being sexist and harmful to women. I know one South American country banned them or were moving to, and many European countries including France are moving to do the same. I had the same thought! Don’t even get me started on the beauty pageants for five year olds… Such a sexist and damaging tradition all around.
You had one thing to do…
Can Steve Harvey read? I’m serious. Maybe a card wasn’t the best thing for him. Someone should have verbally given him the correct winner.
I think I saw an explanation that said he skipped saying 1st runner up. If I recall from watching Drop Dead Gorgeous that’s the typical pageant announcement anyway so you think the ladies would have caught on to the problem immediately but maybe they were too nervous.
Steve Harvey has an empire, honey, he can certainly read. Apparently, the font on the card was tiny, especially to those of us of a certain age.
If you’ve listened to his radio show you know he frequently stumbles over words and would be totally incomprehensible if it weren’t for sidekick Shirley Strawberry guiding him through the show. He should’ve had her with him on stage.
If he has an “empire” then what’s he doing hosting the Miss Universe pageant?
Steves career revival is built off of packaged misogyny, lets not act like he is some boy genius. In fact going by the crap he spews, I would guess he is not just stupid but illiterate too. That nonsense book was probably dictated to some poor assistant.
@Bridget, probably for the same reason Ryan Seacrest still hosts a radio show…to make even more money doing what he loves to do. A lot of very wealthy people continue to work.
Uh’oh I think SH must have personally done something to a certain commenter or is that just Cedric The Entertainer at it again.
Steve Harvey is the black Dr.Phil. That wasn’t a compliment.
Guys dont forget to catch Cedric The Entertainer in Barber Shop; The Sequel, coming soon to a theatre near you.
@V4Real Why, whatever do you mean?
Ummm, there are different levels of work. Hosting the Miss Universe pageant isn’t exactly the gig you get when you’re heading an empire. It’s the kind of gig Mario Lopez gets.
And Ryan Seacrest isn’t some local radio host doing the Old School Lunch, he’s syndicated all over the place, which means he makes a TON of money on that radio show.
Everyone always trashes Steve Harvey for being a misogynist but I love him. I’ve watched his talk show before, I’ve seen his stand up act ect. I think he might have more traditional values but I’ve never seen him disrespect or mistreat a woman on his shows before. It seems like his message to women is to value yourself and don’t date/sleep with the first thing that pays you attention. Not sure whats wrong with that advice or how it makes him a misogynist?
Steve Harvey is syndicated as well. He is extremely popular in the African American market. He also has a tv show based on the radio show. He has his books, which are best sellers. He hosts Family Feud. He does various stand-up venues throughout the year and has a production company. Steve Harvey is doing very well. If he took on this contract (I hear it’s for 3 years), he’s getting a crap-load of money to do it. And, no, he’s not illiterate.
@Snarky
Heres three articles to help you on your way to understanding why its so disturbing that somebody keeps giving this man a platform. Happy reading
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/22/steve_harvey_has_always_been_bad_news_for_women_ruining_the_miss_universe_pageant_is_just_the_tip_of_the_iceberg/
http://gawker.com/embarrassing-is-an-understatement-stories-from-steve-1725690750
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/steve-harveys-con-job-divorce
Here’s a photo showing the card he was reading from. https://cdn-images-2.medium.com/max/800/1*QG4WGjDSJ7j03ccMc9ZSaA.png
The font IS tiny, but the real problem is the layout. It’s incredibly badly designed.
We read left-to-right, top-to-bottom, so our brains tend to skip over info on the bottom right. You expect the important bit to be at the top, or – if you’re reading down in sequence – to be centred or on the left.
The bit that says “Miss Universe 2015” just looks like they’ve written the title of the event on the card. Nothing about it suggests “hey, look under here for name of the winner”. It should’ve been in the same font size/style as the runners-up and actually said “Winner of Miss Universe” or something like that.
Even calling the runners-up “2nd” and “1st” is asking for trouble. Easy to miss that there are TWO runners-up, and that “1st” doesn’t mean “winner”.
All that said … I heard he skipped the end of the rehearsal, where they practiced the actual award ceremony. If he’d shown up to that, he’d have known there were two runners-up, and understood the layout of the card. So it’s all on him. No excuses. Misspelling the countries in his apology tweet just added insult to injury.
That is a bad layout. And the font for the winner should have definitely been larger than the Miss Universe title. But there’s no excuse for SH skipping the end of the rehearsal and thinking he can wing it.
The card appears to be in the order the host normally reads them (the two runners-up, then the winner).
The winner being to one side was probably intended to help distinguish it from the runners-up.
@Christin On the show itself and in a lot of pageants, they announce second runner up and then the winner. Announcing the first runner up makes announcing the winner redundant since there’s only one girl left and the crowd understands that and starts cheering for the winner. So many shows after narrowing it down to two, just announce the winner. It creates a much bigger moment/spectacle.
I guess I still don’t understand how he connected the two, when the MU winner was to the bottom right. Either he wasn’t paying enough attention or possibly has reading vision issues.
Wait why is the book Think like a Man considered “misogyny”, I liked it. It tells you the blunt truth about men instead of the lies of romance novels and romantic comedies. A Blunt version of Men are from Mars and Women from Venus. Women are diverse and some of us like hearing from men’s perspectives even if we have issues with their sex driven brains. LOL.
Of course, Perez has to make it about hhhhiiiiiimmmmmmmmm!
Beauty pageants are the stupidest thing ever. We don’t see men strutting across the stage for “scholarships”. I’m reminded of the movie Miss Congeniality.
I agree…it’s ridiculous that a panel of judges gives these women a score out of ten on how they look in a bikini and an evening gown. So stupid. This seems so out dated and so against what most young women are about now a days.
I just can’t with Perez. He is simply not a nice person, and I don’t think fatherhood has really changed him. He’s a kiss ass, a fake, and honestly all that is bad about celebrity journalism.
I still haven’t warmed to him either but I do see some growth in maturity though. That’s always a plus.
He’s a nasty piece of work for sure.
Agree. The real story is Pérez is still around. His site is so amateur and he no longer has the traffic he use to.
Then he wanted to become an actor so he had a ton of plastic surgery done. He also became more celebrity friendly because he wanted work but he burned to many bridges by then.
He was on the British version of celebrity Big Bother in which he !came off as such an ass. The Brits wanted to send him home asap
Well, if the tea is true about Steve staying up gambling too late and missing his rehearsals, then yes, he is at fault completely.
Didn’t Harvey say or tweet that the name was wrong on the teleprompter? If I didn’t hallucinate that, then he lied right off the bat about what happened. Not cool.
Oh dear, I hate to say this, but Perez does make a valid point. Miss Colombia’s instagram is tacky. Girl, why are you posting pictures of your invalidated crowning? Poor Miss Philippines.
You can’t translate that post in the literal sense from one language to another to get the real meaning behind it…and Perez Hilton as a Spanish speaking latino knows it and is being a drama queen himself. That post Miss Colombia put up was NOT about her stating that she was THE REAL Miss Universe or disrespecting Miss Philippines. It was a post dedicated to her Colombian fans telling them that she felt their love and support and understood that TO THEM she would always be the winner in their hearts. It’s a sweet thank you. Nothing more.
Literal translations from another language and culture never work. Perez is i think either Cuban or Puerto Rican. It may be Spanish he speaks and he may be latino but he’s from a different culture.
My grandpa had a saying: Just because we all eat rice and beans doesn’t mean it all tastes the same.
Even then the literal translation is “I’ll always be your Miss Universe Colombia”! Which isn’t exactly out of line.
That is a really cute quote from your grandpa!
Bridget, that translation makes a lot more sense and I agree, it isn’t out of line at all.
Miss Colombia is fake tho.She didn’t even want miss Philippines to approach her. There was vid of her ignoring her while she tried to apologize. While Miss Philippines was walking away some of the Contestant were Chanting Colombia. It was on Tmz.Someone even said Push Miss Philippines off the stage when she was trying to reach her(in Spanish). WTF. It’s not even her Fault. She’s ma salty and trying to play victim. The real Victim is the winner who didn’t get chance to enjoy her win or being talked about. All she had to do was give Miss Philippines her crown ,hug her and walk away instead she stood aside and cry like she found out she had some terminal disease.
I’m guessing Miss Germany got dragged that her time had to fix her mess. She probably pressed because Miss Philippines is German born herself and got the crown before her lol
Perez is gross, mean spirited and has zero discernible talent. We bitch about the Kardashians but what about him? He’s not even witty in his snark. He’s just mean and dumb. Having said all that I’m ashamed to admit I did laugh out loud when I saw him start spilling the tea on GMA. He’s like that one loathsome acquaintance that you have around just for occasions like this.
Yeah. He is so obnoxious, I don’t like him
I cannot stand how everyone is acting like Colombia is the victim. What about the real winner? She has the other contestants throwing her under the bus, people demanding she SHARE the crown, etc. She didn’t even GET her crowning moment! She rightfully won and people are acting like she did something on purpose to Colombia. The President of Colombia made a comment (as if there aren’t bigger issues in their country) and this is so out of control. I’m so over this story…its reminding me how ugly beautiful people can be
I posted the same thing. The said part is that Miss Philippians was going to return the crown back to Colombia and the people behind Universal were No. I bet money Colombia wouldn’t bother to do that if it were her.
Meant *Sad* *Universe* lol
… and most likely meant “Miss Philippines”. =D
The timing is interesting, since this is the first MU pageant for the new owners, who paid a bundle for it.
Genuine error or massive PR stunt? Who knows.
I vote PR stunt.
I didn’t think it was a PR stunt until last night, when I saw that the pageant organizers have signed Steve Harvey to be the host for another like six years or something! If it weren’t a stunt, would you really want him back after what happened? So now I’m firmly in the stunt conspiracy theory corner. 🙂
I think it may have started out as an accident but now it’s just turned into its own monster.
The Germany comments made me laugh because she wasn’t even a finalist. Also the contestants don’t vote for anyone besides Miss Congeniality.
This year all the contestants got a vote in the final selection.
I guess they had to spice it up somehow
Perez is sort of wrong, though. I watched the pageant and thought that both times Ms Colombia was asked questions, her translator left out most of what she said, in addition to cutting her off. I’m a Spanish-first speaker and I felt badly for her and thought that I’d have given the translator way dirtier looks, especially in the second and final round of questions. By contrast Ms. France’s translator was very good, translated her words more accurately and seemed to be there to help.
Also, all the judges may have voted for Ms Philippines but all the contestants apparently supported France and Colombia, which I thought was interesting. All that said, pageants are super dumb, but very entertaining, and Steve Harvey should not be asked back after such a mega-gaffe!
I feel bad because I actually did do them but now that I’m older (slightly wiser), I have no clue why I thought it was a good idea. But lord are they entertaining as a spectator. I give mainstream pageants another 10 years tops before they completely stop (or go out of business).
Perez Hilton is a horrible person, period. I can’t stand his phony you know what. How that guy ever became successful, if you want to call gossip successful, is beyond me. I’m pretty discerning, and am usually not wrong about people, and this guy is not a good guy.
I don’t know who I dislike more, Harvey or Perez. They’re both awful.
Perez Hilton: The man who draws the male anatomy, with vulgar second grade captions, on the faces of celebs is a Miss Universe judge. And people take this guy seriously…ugh.
Miss Columbia just seems like a cheap knock off of Sofia Vergara to me.
If Miss Colombia was so awful how did she get voted runner up ???
That suit… It burns my eyes.
If these pageants are really all about the scholarships, why do the contestants need to take their clothes off and parade around like pieces of meat? Testing their intellect can be done with them fully clothed. This is all so demeaning to women. Not empowering in the least. My daughter put herself through college on scholarships, earning three degrees while fully clothed! Imagine!
Am i the ONLY who is convinced that Steve Harvey was instructed the call the wrong name for the winner??? I mean, look at how much publicity and interest his “mistake” has generated for Miss Universe!!! Would ANYBODY still be talking about the pageant if this hadnt happened?? DOUBT IT!! And dont forget that the pageant is owned by Mr. Open-Minded Sensitivity and Awareness, Donald Trump. This is JUST the kind of cheap trick he would employ for the sake of publicity. The contestants emotional well-being and feelings be damned.
Perez wishes he had the class, humor and professionalism in his right pinky that Steve Harvey has. Steve made a mistake and he’s not illiterate, which is a racist assumption IMO.
He’s human like the rest of us and will likely host again next year and be better prepared. A similar mistake was made by a past Miss Universe host many years ago when he called out the wrong name of the winner. It’s probably not a rare occurrence at different pageants around the world.
Steve ultimately gave the pageant organization more PR and press coverage than they’ve had in recent years, which is something that really can’t be said of the other hosts.
Putting aside his nasty personality for a moment, Perez Hilton has no business judging anyone or throwing shade when he’s walking around in that ridiculous suit.