Just leave her alone

By Alex P. Vidal

“Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser.”— Paul Newman

GREEN-EYED monsters in the world of beauty pageant will stop at nothing to destroy R’Bonney Gabriel, the first Filipina American Miss USA 2022 and Miss Universe 2023.

After maligning Gabriel during the Miss USA in October 2022 where they falsely accused her of cheating, they are now repeating the malicious, scandalous, shameful and unproven allegations that she cheated in the recent Miss Universe pageant in New Orleans.

Can a lightening strike twice for a very talented lass in only four months?

They wouldn’t stop slandering her. Now Gabriel’s Miss Universe conquest has been stained with unfounded allegations of cheating due to the fact that the trans owner of Miss Universe also owns the Miss USA organization. Shallow and absurd.

Why can’t these sore losers leave her alone? Why don’t they give her a space and let her enjoy the fruits of her labor? Is so much envy and terrible jealousy eating up their hearts and liver day by day?

Their bitterness toward Gabriel is mind-boggling; it’s unprecedented. It seems they can not accept that a not-so-flashy beauty icon, with Filipino blood running her veins, can wipe out all the major beauty crowns the world could offer like the Miss USA and Miss Universe.

The 28-year-old Filipina American beauty more than deserves the double pageant crowns, and she is obviously a lot better, notches higher in merits, substance and talent over her bitter rivals in the Miss USA 2022 and the Miss Universe 2023 pageants.

There were 84 beautiful women from all over the world who came to New Orleans on January 14 night to compete for the coveted crown of Miss Universe.

The final three contestants were Miss Venezuela Amanda Dudamel, Miss Dominican Republic Andreina Martinez, and Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel.

In the end, R’Bonney won the title and crown, and she became the first Filipino-American to be named Miss Universe. In her personality interview, she spoke about the work she does with her fashion brand and helping teach women how to sew. However, as beautiful and charming as R’Bonney is, there are many accusations of her win being rigged which actually sounded like a broken record.

First, several contestants have accused the Miss USA organization of favoritism and rigging the pageant days after then Miss Texas USA Gabriel won the Miss USA 2022 crown in October.

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It can be recalled that several of the childish contestants had walked off stage as Gabriel was crowned Miss USA 2022 in October instead of congratulating her during the “live” broadcast.

Not contented, some of these ill-mannered contestants have aired their grievances on social media in the days after the pageant.

Like a cry baby, Miss District of Columbia Faith Porter told ABC News: “I think the most important thing is that all the contestants feel like they have a fair shot at the crown and that starts with more transparency in judging.”

Claiming Gabriel “had an unfair advantage”, sore loser Miss Montana USA Heather O’Keefe published several videos on TikTok and Instagram. Without showing any evidence, the bad loser added that the sponsors showed a preference for Gabriel.

O’Keefe, who probably was uneducated, boomed in her TikTok video: “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.”

Director of talent and media relations Nancy Shuster had belied all their dirty and malicious allegations saying “the current allegations made by the 2022 Miss USA class of 2022 are misleading and simply not factual.” Shuster said the misunderstanding is the fact that Mia Beaute is a sponsor of the State Miss Texas USA Pageant and a sponsor of the National Miss USA Pageant. Mia Beaute has also recently opened a location at Nizuc Resort and Spa, which is also a sponsor of the national Miss USA Pageant.

Shuster had clarified that Gabriel did multiple sponsor visits, one with Mia Beaute, at which time they proposed that she finally visit Nizuc Spa. Gabriel paid for her own flight, Shuster added.

In a statement, Shuster had explained: “Just as other contestants have been engaged by other sponsors before competing and or winning at the National level, Mia Beauté wanted to use R’Bonney’s diversity and representation as the first Filipina American to win Miss Texas USA.”

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The humble and amiable Fil-Am beauty Gabriel had called the allegations as “not true” and that “I won the title on my own merit.”

“The current allegations are based on perception, and not the truth. I would never want to enter a competition that was rigged. I know all of the contestants worked really hard to prepare, and I don’t want these allegations to overshadow the accomplishments of all the women who participated in this year’s Miss USA competition,” she said.

“I know how hard every woman worked and I want their efforts to also be acknowledged. At this time, I am excited to move forward with training for Miss Universe and all of the opportunities that the Miss USA Organization will provide, while expanding on my personal platform for sustainable fashion and advocating for charity partners Best Buddies and Smile Train.”

Crystle Stewart, president of the Miss USA Organization, said the favoritism and rigging claims were untrue.

“When I won Miss Texas USA, Miss USA and more recently, became President of the Miss USA Organization, many women of color were inspired and filled with hope. I would not do not anything, such as a ‘rig a competition’ that I fought so hard for to win, and jeopardize that hope,” Stewart said in a statement.

“Myself, my staff, and pageant partners take this very seriously and are cooperating with the Miss Universe Organization as they investigate the allegations. In addition to the Miss Universe investigation, we are conducting an internal review to assess our staff and other personnel to ensure that there was fairness, non-discrimination, and no favoritism amongst the contestants. In every attempt, I want to ensure there is an equal playing field for every contestant from uniformity in wardrobe, sponsored headshots, mental health workshops, and complimentary training. All to protect, educate, and empower our contestants.”

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo.—Ed)