When Victoria Kjaer Theilvig was crowned as the new Miss Universe last 23 November, she sat down for a press conference with the pageant's CEO, Anne Jakrajutatip.
Theilvig is an accomplished dancer, beauty entrepreneur, and mental-health advocate who uses her platform to share her story about overcoming abuse. But when a reporter asked Jakrajutatip about the evolution of the Miss Universe pageant, she fixated on Theilvig's looks.
"Evolution?" the CEO asked, her eyes widening as she sat alongside Theilvig, in a clip of the interview posted on Instagram by the pageant blog @roadtomissusa.
"Evolution? We have blond and blue eyes, so we're coming to the ultimate evolution already. We don't need any more evolution here. We already got the best here," Jakrajutatip answered. Last year, she said that she'd create a diverse pageant "for all women around the world."
Some critics in the pageant world said this is the latest example that Jakrajutatip's promises for Miss Universe may only be skin deep.
In 2023, Jakrajutatip announced that women over 28 could compete for the first time in the pageant's history. This followed a rule change that allowed married women and mothers to enter the competition.
"From now on, it's going to be run by women, owned by a trans woman, for all women around the world," Jakrajutatip promised in her first speech on the Miss Universe stage.
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