Despite screenshots suggesting Saturday’s newly crowned Miss Teen USA, Karlie Hay, had repeatedly used the N-word on Twitter back in 2014, the Texas beauty queen will get to keep her title and tiara after all. Why? It seems the good will of the Miss Universe Organization, once owned by Republican nominee Donald Trump, is much stronger than a few poorly-conceived tweets. That, and since the 18-year-old model offered an explanation-cum-apology on social media, the pageant saw no reason to retrieve the crown from Hay and award it to one of the runners-up.
According to People magazine, officials with the Miss Universe Organization announced Hay would keep the title she won in Las Vegas on Saturday despite the controversy. Using language not unlike Hay’s apology, the group issued a statement describing Hay’s tweets as “unacceptable at any age and in no way reflects the values of the” Miss Teen USA pageant. They also commended Hay’s “growth” and expressed their commitment to “supporting” her throughout this process.
The tweets in question, which popped up online soon after Hay won the contest, have yet to be verified. However, screenshots remain all over Twitter and elsewhere online.
https://twitter.com/VaultJosh/status/759613959989239808
Seeing as how quickly Hay and the Miss Universe Organization responded to the alleged tweets, however, it seems everyone involved wanted to dispel the bad press as soon as possible. Whether or not former owner Donald Trump would have handled the matter differently remains to be seen.
(Via People)
