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The international Miss Universe pageant formerly associated with Donald Trump took place last week in Bangkok, where Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch Fernández won the crown. The weeks leading up to the pageant, where women representing 130 countries competed, were plagued by mishaps, and one of them has apparently landed a contestant in the ICU.
The day before the televised ceremony, Miss Jamaica (whose name is Gabrielle Henry) was walking the runway during the preliminary evening-gown competition in a sparkling orange gown when she fell off the edge of the stage and suffered what looked like a painful face-plant. In clips circulating online, she was seen being removed from the stage on a stretcher. Later, Miss Universe organization president Raúl Rocha shared on his Instagram feed that he’d visited Henry at the Paolo Rangsit Hospital, where she is recovering with her family at her side. A statement on Henry’s Instagram account said she did not have any “life-threatening injuries.”
But as of Friday, Henry remained in the intensive-care unit. “Gabby isn’t doing as well as we would have hoped, but the hospital continues to treat her accordingly,” said Henry’s sister, Dr. Phylicia Henry-Samuels, in a statement released on Miss Jamaica’s Instagram. She will remain in the ICU for at least seven days.
This is just one concerning story line to emerge from the historic pageant this year. Earlier this month, Miss Mexico, who ultimately won the competition, led a walkout after a pageant executive chastised her during a Facebook livestream. And in the days before the ceremony, two judges and the president of the selection committee resigned. One of the judges, Claude Makélélé, cited “unforeseen personal issues,” while the other judge, Omar Harfouch, accused the organization of having an unofficial jury that preselected finalists without the official jury’s input. He also said that some of those unofficial jurors had personal relationships with the contestants. Representatives for the Miss Universe organization denied Harfouch’s claims, according to the BBC. But one of the new judges brought in to replace Harfouch and the others, Natalie Glebova, does appear to have ties to current contestants. Glebova, who was Miss Universe in 2005, has coached Miss Universe Canada 2025 winner Jaime VandenBerg, who is currently competing in Thailand.
The Cut has reached out to the Miss Universe organization for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
This post has been updated.
