Miss Universe first runner-up Chidimma Adetshina has broken her silence about controversial comment made by the beauty pageant’s CEO.
CEO Anne Jakrajutatip raised eyebrows when she was asked how the pageant was taking ‘strategic steps’ to evolve after Denmark’s Victoria Kjær Theilvig was crowned as the new Miss Universe.
‘Evolution? We have blonde and blue eyes, so we’re coming to the ultimate evolution already,’ Anne – who is a Thai businesswoman and the first transgender woman to own the Miss Universe pageant – responded.
‘We don’t need any more evolution here. We already got the best here.’
Her response garnered a flood of backlash as beauty pageant fans flocked to social media to slam the CEO for her ‘shocking’ remarks.
However, while the world was left stunned by the words of the beauty queen mogul, Chidimma, who was the first Miss Nigeria to garner a spot in the top five, remained nonchalant.
While speaking to Business Insider, Chidimma revealed that she was ‘not really offended’ by the comments before sharing her thoughts on Donald Trump Jr.’s remarks.
The Miss Universe first runner-up, Chidimma Adetshina, has broken her silence on the CEO’s controversial comment about ‘blonde hair’ and ‘blue eyes’
She told the outlet: ‘I’m not really offended by it. Maybe that’s just her perspective; maybe that’s how she felt about the evolution of Miss Universe.’
But she did take issue with Donald Jr.’s comments he made online following Victoria’s win.
The son of the incumbent President said: ‘Biological & objectively attractive women are allowed to win beauty pageants again. WE ARE SO BACK!!!’
Chidimma noted that she was disappointed to read the comments to his remarks.
‘All the queens that were crowned are so beautiful in their own different ways, so for him to make a comment like that, I feel like he was disregarding all the past queens,’ she said.
‘I can understand why people didn’t really like a comment like that and why it was causing a spark on social media.’
The CEO’s response was posted in a clip on the Instagram account @roadtomissusa, which sparked a big response from fans.
Victoria, who was crowned as Miss Universe Denmark in September, is an animal rights activist and has been open about her personal experiences with abuse.
On Saturday, after Denmark’s Victoria Kjær Theilvig was crowned as the new Miss Universe, CEO Anne Jakrajutatip joined her for a press conference
During a press conference, a reporter had asked Anne about the ‘strategic steps’ they were taking when it came to the evolution of beauty pageants
The CEO responded: ‘Evolution? We have blonde and blue eyes, so we’re coming to the ultimate evolution already’
After the CEO made her statement about the ‘ultimate evolution,’ many Miss Universe fans weren’t impressed, and took to social media to air their thoughts.
‘The Miss Universe CEO is a weirdo because what do you mean the evolution is blonde and blue eyes?’ one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter..
Someone else agreed, ‘The Miss Universe CEO boldly saying blonde hair and blue eyes is the standard is soooo.’
‘Miss Universe CEO’s comments are so shocking,’ another typed on the platform.
The conversation also continued in the comments section of the Instagram post made by @roadtomissusa, where some seemed to side with Anne and others totally disagreed.
‘This is beyond tacky,’ one user commented on Instagram. ‘I don’t think I can watch Miss USA or Miss Universe anymore.
‘Their leaders are running these pageants to the ground. They are insensitive, greedy, do not care about the production of the pageant, and the needs of the contestants. I cannot support this nonsense.’
Another person agreed, ‘Stop giving them your money. Go where you are welcome and clearly it is not there. Better ways to invest your time, money, heart, talents, and intelligence!’
Theilvig, who was crowned as Miss Universe Denmark in September, is an animal rights activist and has been open about her personal experiences with abuse
The post also included an X comment from Donald Trump’s son Don Jr., which he made after the win on Saturday
‘I’m all for empowering the blondes because we would be lying if we said that they’ve been properly rewarded for stellar performances in the past few years within this organization, but the thin line between empowerment and flat out racism is somehow being dashed,’ an Instagram user penned.
Someone else just simply wrote, ‘Yikes. Just yikes.’
However, other fans revealed there was no issue with the remark and ran to the defense of Anne.
‘It is evolutionary because the last blonde was in 2004… there to know we had everything in the spectrum. Love the new Miss Universe,’ someone typed.
One person admitted, ‘Trump era was the best, and we want it back.’
In addition to posting Donald Jr.’s post on X and the video of Anne, the pageantry news account also weighed in on the matter.
‘The concerning statements from the director and CEO, combined with the subpar production quality and execution of ideas, suggest that the organization is more focused on garnering attention for themselves rather than uplifting and empowering women,’ the account wrote in part.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the pageant organization for comment.
The conversation also continued in the comments section of the Instagram post made by @roadtomissusa, where some seemed to side with Anne and others totally disagreed
This isn’t the first comment about Miss Universe’s competitors that Anne has made since becoming CEO of the organization.
In June, the CEO said ‘trans women, married women, and divorced women’ can compete in the beauty pageant but cannot win, in a bombshell leaked video published by Vox.
The CEO was heard in the footage from a board meeting last November making bold statements about how diversity improves the competition’s image, but ultimately women from these backgrounds would not be successful at the end.
‘The trans women, the women with husbands, divorced women… This is a communication strategy, because, you understand… they can compete but they cannot win. We just put the policy out there. Social inclusion, as people would say,’ she said.