HO/The Miss Universe Organization
With the 2018 Miss Universe competition just days away, Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers is in the spotlight—but not for any reason she’d want.
In footage surfacing online, the 24-year-old Nebraska native was captured calling attention to fellow contestants Miss Cambodia Rern Sinat and Miss Vietnam H’Hen Nie. The videos were reportedly captured from an Instagram Live on Miss Colombia Valeria Morales‘ account. She and Miss Australia Francesca Hung were also present for the conversation.
“What do you think of Miss Vietnam Nie?” Summers asked the women during the video.
“She’s so cute and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes [nods and smiles],” Summers said before laughing. “She’s adorable.” After Morales asked her “how?” Summers did the imitation again.
Further into the video, Summers brought up Sinat.
“Miss Cambodia is here and doesn’t speak any English and not a single other person speaks her language. Can you imagine?” she asked. “Francesca said that would be so isolating and I said yes and just confusing all the time.”
“Poor Cambodia,” she added.
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The comments have sparked a wave of reactions online with many slamming Summers and calling out the fact that it is an international competition. “You are in a competion called Miss Universe and not in an English class my dear!” one critic commented. “I think this is not a good example of being a queen.”
Others questioned her eligibility to compete after making the remarks. “Well, I seriously don’t want to see the next miss universe saying stuff like this,” another commentator added online.
E! News has reached out to the Miss Universe Organization for comment on Summers’ remarks.