For a few short minutes, Miss Colombia thought she had brought home the Miss Universe title for her country the 2nd year in a row. But when the pageant’s host, Steve Harvey, announced that he had made a mistake and that the honor belonged instead to the Philippines, who hadn't won in 40 years, the mood turned into that of a jilted prom queen.
Harvey apologized immediately and later on Twitter, but at first misspelled the home countries of both contestants before also fixing that.
This, being the age of social media, caused the creation of a thousand memes. Here are a few:
And, my personal favorite:
Colombia actually takes its beauty pageants seriously, and the nation has had a number of finalists in the race. In 2014, Maria Paulina Vega became the country’s first Miss Universe since the 1950s. In fact, it was Vega who had the "pleasure" of placing the tiara on Ariadna Gutierrez’s head only to be forced to transfer it to the dome of Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, Miss Philippines. Vega herself was crowned at a less controversial pageant at the FIU Arena in Miami.
The Colombian law firm De la Espriella says that two of its attorneys are filing a lawsuit against the pageant.
“The crown is an acquired right that cannot be taken away from us,” the company wrote on its Twitter account. “At this moment we’re writing the lawsuit.”
Honestly, I feel bad for both women. Miss Colombia for having the crown taken from her and being so embarrassed, and Miss Philippines for having her victory overshadowed by all the jokes and controversy surrounding this whole thing.
