A beauty queen who has blasted the Miss USA pageant for allegedly “rigging” the contest claims she and other contestants were treated like “puppets.”
Heather Lee O’Keefe, the 25-year-old Miss Montana, put the pageant on blast in recent TikTok videos outlining her theories as to why the pageant was unfair.
“I do feel like we were all used as puppets to just put on this show of Miss USA, just to put on the show of a pageant,” the stunner from Bozeman told the Daily Mail.
“I feel like, and a lot of other contestants feel like, they had already predetermined the winner. We were just there as puppets to put on this show for them to make it seem like there was a pageant,’ she continued. ‘That’s how we feel. That’s our own opinion,” she continued.
O’Keefe said pageant organizers had tipped the scales in favor of R’Bonney Gabriel, the 28-year-old Miss Texas, though conceded she “didn’t know” what motive the contest would had to favor Gabriel.
“The only thing I know was that there was clear and convincing favoritism toward her in the competition and leading up to the competition. She received more resources than we did. That is the root of the issue,” O’Keefe said.
Miss USA denied the allegations, and asserted that all beauty queens were treated equally.
‘I would not do not anything, such as a ‘rig a competition’ that I fought so hard for to win, and jeopardize that hope. The fairness of the pageant and the well-being of each and every contestant is my top priority,” Miss USA President Crystle Stewart told the tabloid, adding the organization would be launching a “review” to examine the charges.