A Miss Universe judge said outrage over transgender contestants led to the pageant’s bankruptcy and said the company was having “financial problems” in Thailand.
Journalist Emily Austin, who was also a jury member for the 2022 Miss Universe, took a seat on the jury Fox Business Varney & Co. talk show on Thursday and expressed her opinion about the consequences of the organization.
“I think the outrage over a trans woman coming to Miss Universe and preaching, ‘Bring the power back to women’ couldn’t be more of a contradiction in terms,” Austin said.
Thai media mogul and trans woman Anne Jakrajutatip bought the rights to Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA for $20 million from IMG Media in 2022.
“I think her business in Thailand has its own financial problems, but socially and morally it’s just wrong. And people are starting to realize that,” Austin said.
Emily Austin, a former judge at the 2022 Miss Universe pageant, weighed in on its bankruptcy on Thursday
Thai media mogul and trans woman Anne Jakrajutatip bought the rights to Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA for $20 million from IMG Media in 2022
The bankruptcy comes after the company defaulted on a $12 million loan just days before the 2023 Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador.
Despite the setback, Jakrajutatip’s JKN Global Group is optimistic and continues to insist that the event will go ahead as planned, even after filing for bankruptcy a year later.
“Miss Universe Organization, just one of our many business units, is completely clean,” Jakrajutatip said in a post on Instagram.
The entrepreneur described it as her “first priority in life, no matter how joyful or painful it may be.”
The preliminaries for the pageant started on November 15 and the main show was scheduled to start on November 18.
For the first time, two transgender participants will take part in the pageant this year: Miss Portugal and Miss Netherlands.
Miss Portugal is a stewardess named Marina Machete and Rikkie Kollé is Miss Netherlands. If they win, they would be the first trans women to wear the tiara.
In 2018, the pageant featured the very first transgender participant, the Spanish Ángela Ponce.
In Thursday’s interview, Austin said she believes trans women should not be allowed to participate in the beauty pageant.
“If you want to empower women, you can’t do that by humiliating and belittling women by allowing men, or biological men who have become women, to get into an industry like sports, like beauty pageants, all dressed up plastics. – beautiful men, by the way – and start to dominate the women’s industry.’
“That’s the opposite of women’s empowerment,” Austin said.
Austin said that men who “decide to become women” don’t have a “feminine story.”
Growing up, Jakrajutatip felt ‘trapped’ in a man’s body and changed from man to woman at age 30
Flight attendant Marina Machete (left), 23, from Portugal, competes to become the first trans woman to win the competition at this year’s event in El Salvador. The other trans woman participating is Rikkie Valerie Kolle from the Netherlands (right)
The former judge added that during the Miss Universe event, many decisions are based on the contestant’s interviews, and that a transgender woman’s life struggles may not be equal to the adversities of a biological woman.
Austin said she doesn’t think men who “decide to become women” have a “feminine story.”
“You don’t know what menstrual cramps feel like, I’m sorry. You don’t know what it’s like to walk off a stage at that time of the month and really say: this is femininity.’
“You’re a man who identifies as a woman, and that’s fine. But don’t start getting into the women’s industry – have a line, set a boundary. That’s the problem,” Austin said.
Growing up, Jakrajutatip said she felt “trapped” in a man’s body while being bullied and “sexually abused by a teacher.”
The trans billionaire went from man to woman at the age of 30 and turned her family’s failing video rental company into a global media empire.
Her last venture was when she bought the rights to Miss Universe, becoming the first woman to do so after it had been run by men for 70 years.
The owner before her was former US President Donald Trump, who owned it from 1996 to 2015.
Nearly 90 entrants from around the world took part in the competition, organizers said, with “personal statements, in-depth interviews and various categories including evening gowns and swimwear.”
The winner will be crowned by last year’s winner, the American R’Bonney Gabriel in New Orleans.
In the question-and-answer session in the final phase of the competition for the three finalists, Gabriel was asked last time how she would try to show that Miss Universe is “a powerful and progressive organization” if she were to win.
“I would use it to be a transformational leader,” she responded, citing her work using recycled materials in her fashion design and teaching sewing classes to survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. “It’s so important to invest in others, invest in our community and use your unique talent to make a difference.”
Since the beginning of 2022, the JKN share price has fallen more than 80 percent. In the wake of the bankruptcy, the company filed a petition to “adjust interest rates on existing debt and expand the debt repayment method,” reports The Bangkok Post.
In 2015, former President Donald Trump was forced to sell the election after TV companies refused to deal with the then-candidate over his comments during the campaign.
Around the time Trump sold the pageant, former Miss Universe Alicia Machado said he named her Miss Piggy after she gained weight and won the competition in 1996.
R’Bonney Gabriel after being crowned Miss Universe 2022
Trans activist Anne Jakrajutatip, third from the left in the photo with various election winners over the years, bought the election in 2022
Austin said she hired bodyguards from Fox & Friends last month after receiving death and rape threats from anti-Semites
Just last month, Austin hired bodyguards after receiving rape and death threats from anti-Semites.
The 22-year-old, who is outspoken about her Judaism and support for Israel, said she is concerned about officials’ failure to take action against blatant acts of anti-Semitism taking place across the US.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you I don’t have a bodyguard for who knows how long. I got a bodyguard because of my appearances on TV,” Austin told Fox & Friends.
Austin has also expressed his dismay at universities across the country that have participated in pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests.
“I can’t believe (the threats) are being tolerated… I’m all for freedom of speech, but at this point this is a call to action. So how can the FBI not track this student down and take him off a college campus, that part is beyond me,” she said.