Over the weekend, R’Bonney Gabriel, a Texas native, was crowned as the new Miss USA at a ceremony held at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.
Shortly after, rumors started to spread online, with Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe saying she had spoken with her fellow competitors and alleged that “most of the Miss USA contestants feel very strongly that there was favoritism towards Miss Texas USA and we have the receipts to prove it.” In other words, that the election was rigged.
R’Bonney responded with: “I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I know I would win…I have a lot of integrity.”
Social media picked up on the drama happening behind-the-scenes as pageant viewers noticed that many Miss USA 2022 contestants left the stage without congratulating R’Bonney when she won. Shortly after the collective walk-off went viral, Miss New York Heather Nunez wrote on Instagram Stories that she felt “humiliated” in believing that she had “a fair chance,” while Miss Alabama Katelyn Vinson penned: “It’s crushing and heartbreaking to have worked so hard towards a goal only to realize you never stood a chance.”
In winning Miss USA 2022, R’Bonney made history by becoming the first Filipino-American woman to take home the title. The model and fashion designer is also the first-ever Asian-American woman to have been named Miss Texas USA.
Not surprisingly, R’Bonney denies any kind of favoritism and is willing to talk to the unhappy losers to clear the air. “I think there’s a lot of allegations that are coming up that aren’t true…I want to be transparent, and I want everybody to know that there was no unfair advantage and nothing was rigged.”
Amongst the claims made by Heather Lee O’Keefe, speaking on behalf of the losers, is that contestants’ mental health “was put on the back burner” by organizers and that one of the sponsors for Miss USA is also a sponsor for Miss Texas USA, which R’Bonney won earlier this year.
Rigged or not, it seems that “the election was rigged” is spreading like a new pandemic whether in national politics or a beauty pageant. In the meantime, R’Bonney is the happy winner wearing the crown and will represent the USA at the Miss Universe pageant later this year. “As Miss USA, I’m just looking forward to advocating for what I love,” she says. Thankfully, the losers didn’t take up arms to storm the Capitol—so to speak.
