Miss Jamaica's Unfortunate Fall: A Look at the Miss Universe Pageant's Troubles

The Miss Universe pageant, held in Bangkok last week, saw Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch Fernández take home the crown. However, the event was marred by several incidents, with one contestant's accident standing out. Gabrielle Henry, representing Jamaica, took a tumble during a preliminary event. She was strutting down the runway in a shimmering orange dress when she slipped and fell off the stage. Videos online show her being carried off on a stretcher. The Miss Universe organization's president, Raúl Rocha, shared that he visited Henry at the hospital, where she is recovering with family by her side. A post on Henry's Instagram account mentioned she didn't have life-threatening injuries. As of last Friday, Henry was still in the intensive-care unit. Her sister, Dr. Phylicia Henry-Samuels, shared that Henry wasn't improving as hoped but was receiving proper care. She is expected to stay in the ICU for at least a week. This isn't the only issue that has come up during this year's pageant. Earlier, Miss Mexico led a walkout after being scolded by a pageant executive during a live Facebook stream. Before the main event, two judges and the selection committee president resigned. One judge, Claude Makélélé, cited personal reasons, while another, Omar Harfouch, accused the organization of having an unofficial jury that preselected finalists. He also claimed some of these unofficial jurors had personal ties to contestants. The Miss Universe organization denied these claims, but one of the new judges, Natalie Glebova, has connections to current contestants. Glebova, who was Miss Universe in 2005, has coached Miss Universe Canada 2025 winner Jaime VandenBerg, who is competing in Thailand. The Miss Universe organization has been contacted for comment, but no response has been received yet.