Shortly after Victoria Kjaer Theilvig was named the new Miss Universe last November 2024, 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 said last year 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.
It'd been years since Donald Trump, who owned Miss Universe from 1996 to 2015, overturned a decision by the organization to ban women who weren't biologically born female.
"I stood up and applauded for her. I cried, and she also cried on the stage," Jakrajutatip, who is transgender, told Them during a June 2023 interview.
Jakrajutatip echoed these sentiments in a statement to BI after she acquired the Miss Universe brand, which oversees all competing countries, including Miss USA, in October 2022.
In an October 2023 video obtained by BI, the CEO told her staff that diverse pageant contestants "can compete, but they can't win," calling it a "communication strategy."
In a February 2024 statement on her Facebook page, Jakrajutatip said she was instead discussing a potential Miss Universe reality show rather than the competition.
When asked to comment on the video amid BI's investigation into Miss Universe and Miss USA in July, a Miss Universe spokesperson said the organization remains committed to "the core values we have diligently defended over the years, promoting inclusion, transparency, and integrity, which will not be swayed by unfounded allegations."
Jakrajutatip and Miss Universe's president, Raul Rocha — who became a coowner this year after Jakrajutatip's company sold 50% of its shares to him amid ongoing financial struggles — also endorsed comments by Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk praising Theilvig's appearance.
"Biological & objectively attractive women are allowed to win beauty pageants again. WE ARE SO BACK," Trump Jr. wrote in a message on X, which Jakrajutatip and Rocha posted on their Instagram stories.
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