The ousted Miss USA president ripped contestants in the 2022 pageant for accusing her of rigging the pageant in favor of Miss Texas, a new documentary reveals.
Crystle Stewart, 42, who lost her position over the allegations, slammed the beauty queen for accusing her of picking R’Bonney Gabriel as the winner.
Stewart – who held her position for three years before being permanently ousted – sat down with the filmmaker for her first interview involving the 2022 scandal to address the allegations many contestants have made against her.
“I want to tell them that I actually applaud them for using their voices and coming together,” the Miss Texas 2008 winner, who looked stiff throughout her interview, told The New York Times filmmakers and the FX documentary.
“It shows that if we come together and work together, how it can amplify your voice,” Stewart continued, as she often glanced at her attorney, Nathan Sheffield, off camera. “But they’re using it for the wrong reasons.”
Crystle Stewart, 42, (pictured in 2008) has accused the Miss USA Class of 2022 of using their votes for the “wrong cause” after they accused her of rigging the pageant in favor of R’Bonney Gabriel. MJT/AdMedia After the 2022 pageant, contestants took to social media to claim the pageant was rigged in favor of the then Miss Texas, R’Bonney Gabriel, who went on to win Miss Universe. Miss USA/Instagram
After the 2022 pageant, contestants took to social media to claim the pageant was rigged in favor of then-Miss Texas, R’Bonney Gabriel, who went on to win Miss Universe.
“My whole family came and they told me: ‘So-and-so said, you know, it looks like it’s going to Texas,'” Miss DC Faith Porter told the How to Fix a Pageant filmmaker. “I remember saying: ‘Everyone really likes him on the staff, but I don’t know if they’re going to crown him because the director is going to riot.’”
They claim she was given preferential treatment, including a hair and makeup team, and the woman had heard rumors throughout the week of the pageant that the fashion designer and Texas native would be crowned.
Stewart denied any favoritism or cheating took place, telling the filmmakers she was “not at all” involved in choosing the winners. An independent investigation by Holland & Knight – which has not publicly shared its findings – found that no fraud was involved.
However, documents provided to filmmakers by Stewart claim he was flagged over concerns of favoritism on September 8, 2022 – about a month before Gabriel crowned the winner.
Three state directors, who were not identified, told the filmmakers that there had been a meeting about their concerns about Gabriel’s treatment. Regarding the results of the meeting, it was not disclosed.
Many contestants, including Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe (pictured), took to social media to express favoritism.TikTok/heatherleeokeefeStewart was removed from her post as president following the scandal. He held the position for three years.Joe Kohen/WireImage.com
However, Stewart told the filmmakers before sending the document, he was blindsided by the big claims of some of the contestants, like Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe, who were the most vocal against him.
“After the winner was chosen, everything seemed fine, and then I got a phone call about the video in Nizuc [Spa].”
Nizuc, the national sponsor, ran an ad featuring Gabriel shortly after he was crowned. Contestants are not allowed to work with national sponsors before being crowned Miss USA. The ad provoked many contestants, who accused pageant officials of pre-selecting him, which would have allowed him to record the video earlier.
Gabriel – who spoke only once about the scandal and did not attend last night’s 2023 competition – claimed he was working with MIA Beaute, the state sponsor, who had opened a salon in Nizuc and had flown himself to the Mexican resort.
Gabriel told The Post at the time in an emailed statement that the contest was not “rigged.”
Now, nearly a year later, Stewart is still questioning how the whole scandal blew up to such massive proportions, telling the documentary: “How did we find ourselves here? I didn’t know it would blow up like it did.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
