Ariadna Gutierrez was Miss Universe for 15 seconds. Then she went back to being Miss Colombia.
The wrong woman was crowned Miss Universe. Watch the moment when everyone realized it.
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
At the 2015 Miss Universe pageant — a literal Hunger Games where women from all over the world are brought to the city of Las Vegas and judged on how they fill out a swimsuit — host Steve Harvey incorrectly announced that Gutierrez was the winner. Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, was the actual winner.
Gutierrez got to experience the winning moment. She looked into the eyes of the woman she was more universal than. She was awarded the crown and flowers. And then the music cut out and Harvey began to speak.
“I have to apologize,” Harvey said.
At this point, Gutierrez was still smiling awkwardly. She had to know something was wrong. There was no music. Everything just kind of stopped. She was still smiling in the silence.
“The first runner-up is Colombia,” Harvey continued.
Wurtzbach then had to return to the stage and stand awkwardly next to Gutierrez, who was still wearing the crown. Because it sorta looked like a fix was in, Harvey tried to show the audience the card with the winner’s name printed on it, explaining that he simply read it wrong. He told the audience not to hold his error against the women.
I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible.
— Steve Harvey (@IAmSteveHarvey) December 21, 2015 See More:
