EXCLUSIVE – ‘We were used as puppets to put on a show’: Miss Montana slams Miss USA pageant organizers after claiming contest was rigged from the start so that Miss Texas could win

• Heather Lee O’Keefe, 25, of Bozeman, claimed ‘they were all used as puppets’ to showboat the ‘predetermined’ Miss USA winner
• She double down on her and her fellow contestants claim that Miss USA 2022 was rigged for Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel, 28, of Houston, to win 
• O’Keefe told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that the organizers had an ‘inherent bias’ toward Gabriel, since it is largely based in Houston 
• Contestants have claimed Gabriel received ‘more resources than we did,’ like a professional hair and makeup team and that she violated handbook guidelines
• O’Keefe also said an inside source told her that the 2020 and 2021 winners were forced to give Pro-Miss USA statements 
• Crystle Stewart, the pageant president, has denied all accusations against them, saying she would never ‘rig a competition’ 
• Miss Universe, which runs Miss USA, has started an internal investigation into the Class of 2022’s allegations. Miss USA is also investigating 

Miss Montana has doubled down on her claims the Miss USA pageant was rigged and has slammed the organization for using her and other contestants as ‘puppets’ to showboat the ‘predetermined winner.’ 

Heather Lee O’Keefe, 25, of Bozeman, said she and her other contestants were paraded around for the sake of the show, even though they all knew Miss Texas would be crowned. 

‘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’ she told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

‘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.’ 

When ask why she specifically thought Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel, 28, of Houston, was allegedly selected as the winner prior to the competition, she said admitted she ‘didn’t know’ the reason, but that favoritism played a large role. 

‘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.’ 

Miss USA organizers and Gabriel have denied claims the contest was rigged.  

Heather Lee O’Keefe, 25, of Bozeman, said she and her other contestants were paraded around for the sake of the show, even though they all knew Miss Texas would be crowned. She has doubled down on claims that the pageant was rigged 

R’Bonney Gabriel took the crown on Monday night, but was left alone on stage after her fellow contestant left after her crowning. She has denied that the contest was rigged

‘It’s very messy,’ the beauty queen continued. ‘But I think all the facts point to the fact that she was a favorite, and she did receive preferential treatment.

‘I have absolutely nothing against Miss USA 2022 as a person. I think she’s absolutely stunning she’s gorgeous. She also worked so hard for this but I think it’s unfortunate that the surrounding circumstances have tainted her win, because we all agree she could have one on her own merit. 

‘We just wish that there wasn’t so much favoritism towards her beforehand and we wish that it just would have seemed like a more fair competition.’ 

Miss USA President Crystle Stewart – who won the pageant in 2008 and was a former Miss Texas – has denied all accusations the Class of 2022 have forward with. 

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Gabriel, a fashion designer, said the competition ‘was not rigged, because I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I would know I would win. I have a lot of integrity’

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Stewart wrote: ‘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. 

‘The allegations against the Miss USA Organization are misleading and against everything I stand for personally and professionally.’ 

Miss Universe, which runs Miss USA, is conducting an internal investigation into the contestants’ claims. 

‘We are aware of the concerns that have been brought forth by this year’s Miss USA contestants. We commend the women for bringing these issues to our attention and will always be an organization that encourages women to use their voice. We firmly believe everyone has a right to express their thoughts and experiences without retaliation and bullying,’ the Miss Universe Organization told DailyMail.com in a statement.  

Stewart also revealed to DailyMail.com on Friday that Miss USA would also be conducting a ‘review to asses[s] our staff and other personnel to ensure that there was fairness, non-discrimination, and no favoritism amongst the contestants.’ 

O’Keefe is not convinced the investigations will go anywhere, since Miss Universe President Paula Shugart and Stewart are close.  

O’Keefe says there’s ‘inherent bias’ toward Texas winners because almost the ‘entire staff is from Houston’ but Gabriel dismisses claim, saying ‘it has to be [from] some state’ 

Stewart (pictured in 2015) was the previous Miss USA titleholder in 2008 and was also Miss Texas. O’Keefe said the ‘entire staff’ is from the Houston area, where Gabriel is located 

Miss USA President Crystle Stewart, who won the pageant in 2008, took over in 2020 and also owns Miss Academy – a pageant training course – is based in Houston. The owner of Miss Brand, which owns the pageant, is also based in Texas. 

‘I think this is a big issue that a lot of us are trying to bring light to is the fact [Stewart] owns so much of the organization. She owns the main organization, Miss USA, and she also owns the the main sponsor of the organization which is a big issue we all have with it.’ 

‘Miss Academy sponsored Miss Texas much more than they sponsored the rest of us contestants.’ 

She revealed to DailyMail.com that Gabriel received free coaching from Miss Academy – which can cost from $1,500 to $14,000 – while the rest of the girls were only offered free online workshops. 

Many contestants also flew to Houston to take in-person classes are they were ‘strongly encouraged’ to do so, O’Keefe said. 

‘[Contestants] felt the need to do that because of the fact that it was a national sponsor, and we felt pressured that if we wanted to do well at Miss USA, we had to work with Miss Academy and pay that money out of our own pocket to do so.’ 

O’Keefe told DailyMail.com that she did not attend any in-person session and spent zero dollars on training from Miss Academy, who also offered online and a la carte classes. 

‘And I didn’t place,’ she laughed. 

However, in an interview with E! News’ The Rundown, Gabriel insisted she wasn’t favored because she was from Texas. 

‘It has to be [from] some state, it just so happens to be mine,’ she told The Rundown. ‘It’s just a coincidence that I am from Texas and lot of the organization team is as well.’ 

Contestants aren’t allowed to work with Miss USA national sponsorships prior to the competition, but Gabriel said others have done it

Gabriel was seen in a sponsored video from NIZUC spas less than 24 hours after her crowning, appearing to have enjoyed her prize, but the beauty queen said she was just a brand ambassador for the company. MIA Beaute, which opened a spa at NIZUC resorts in Mexico, was a sponsor of Miss Texas and Gabriel said a lot of people work as brand ambassadors for national sponsors prior to Miss USA

 However, O’Keefe insisted to DailyMail.com that that was a violation of the handbook for contestants to work with national sponsors prior to winning 

A major incident that riled fellow Class of 2022 contestants the NIZUC Resort and Spa ad that came out less than 24 hours after Gabriel was crowned. 

NIZUC, which offers a prize to the winner, posted an ad showing the newly-minted Miss USA seemingly enjoying its services, which got some wondering how she already enjoyed the gift prior to winning. 

Gabriel said she was simply a brand ambassador for the company’s affiliate MIA Beaute, which also sponsors the Miss Texas pageant and was opening a new spa at the NIZUC resort in Mexico. 

‘I was a brand ambassador for MIA after I won my title as Miss Texas. And when we got to Miss USA, the girls were kind of wondering: ‘What’s happening here?’

But there’s been a lot of times where titleholders will work with sponsors for Miss USA before the competition and that will be promoted after the competition if they win or not,’ she told The Rundown.

She also claimed that NIZUC ‘did not fly me out, I flew myself out’.

O’Keefe didn’t seem convinced, telling DailyMail.com on Friday: ‘At first [she said] NIZUC Resort flew her there, then she said she paid for it herself.

‘What I know from my experience as a brand ambassador…They usually pay for your travel expenses to get to wherever you’re going to be a brand ambassador. So I think it’s a little bit weird that she’s saying she paid to go on this trip to be a brand ambassador, because usually when you’re a brand ambassador, they pay for you to be there.’ 

She went to say that the sponsorship – whether taken as an individual or as Miss Texas – violated the Miss USA handbook. 

‘So we don’t know if that’s trying to cover something else up, or what, but what we do know is that it is explicitly prohibited in our contestant handbook and our contestant contract, that we are not allowed to work as individuals with the national sponsor.

‘So she is saying that she did this on her own merit, regardless of that or not. It’s prohibited, and it was against the roles.’ 

Contestants who are contacted to be ambassadors by sponsors are supposedly supposed to report it to the national board, O’Keefe told DailyMail.com. 

In addition, it’s not just the promotional video that got contestants riled up, but the fact that one of the judges at the Miss USA competition was the founder of MIA.

The founder also allegedly posted a photo of Miss Texas on his Instagram story, which swirled the rumor mill even more.

‘Ever since Miss Texas was crowned a couple months ago, she has been shown favoritism by the Miss USA organization through their businesses that are also all owned by the same woman,’ O’Keefe said on her social media.

One thing’s for sure: Contestants left the stage after the crowning, but it’s not very clear what happened backstage as O’Keefe and Gabriel stories don’t match up

One of the most defining moments of the 2022 Miss USA contest was when the other beauty queens left the stage after the crowning. As the credits rolled, the runner-ups can be seen leaving the stage, which is an unusual sight. Normally, the runners-up stand with a forced smile and clap as the credits roll – but there were no such pleasantries at the end of this year’s pageant. Gabriel said the producers told them to leave the stage due to a time constraint

O’Keefe claims she was ‘on her own’ backstage, but Gabriel said that they ‘all hugged me’ and were told to leave the stage due to a timing constraint 

One of the most defining moments of the 2022 Miss USA contest was when the other beauty queens left the stage after the crowning.

As the credits rolled, the runner-ups can be seen leaving the stage, which is an unusual sight.

Normally, the runners-up stand with a forced smile and clap as the credits roll – but there were no such pleasantries at the end of this year’s pageant.

Former Miss USA contestant Jasmine Jones, who has been in pageantry for 10 years, claimed it was ‘obvious’ that the contest was rigged when the women began leaving the stage.

‘In any pageant you’ve ever been in, the production manager tells you you stay on stage until she’s done, you stand there and you clap,’ she said in a TikTok.

‘In the background, girls were literally clapping [weakly] and they started exiting the stage before she even turned around for her congratulatory hug from other contestants.’

‘Before she even got halfway down the runway for her crowning moment, the contestants behind her were exiting the stage.’

She said it was a ‘big tell-all’ that ‘something was off.’

In an Instagram Live on Wednesday, O’Keefe agreed that early exit was ‘unprecedented’ and had ‘never happened before.’

The beauty queen claimed it was ‘not planned’ and it wasn’t done because of ‘bitter’ feelings.

Many contestants have come forward to say they have nothing against Gabriel (pictured at her crowning) 

‘We all just acted, in the moment, what we thought was right,’ she said during the live broadcast on Wednesday. ‘We are a class of Division I athletes, Harvard alumni, lawyers, doctors, scientists, and people who fought for their citizenship to this country.

‘We are the farthest thing from sore losers.’

She told DailyMail.com on Friday that the moment was ‘all of our worst nightmare’ and it was ‘disheartening to know that we didn’t even have a chance to lose, let alone win.’ 

However, Gabriel was insistent that they didn’t leave the stage over her win.

‘I did not think so,’ she told The Rundown. ‘Something I heard from production was that our time was cut short, so the girls couldn’t come out to the stage because there wasn’t time and they didn’t want the girls to go into that bubble and maybe fall.

‘But when I went back to the girls, they all hugged me.’

She also said she ‘got along with all the girls she encountered’ and she ‘wasn’t aware’ of any rumor that her win was rigged.

However, O’Keefe told DailyMail.com that Gabriel was ‘on her own’ when she got backstage.  

An inside source said the 2020 and 2021 winners were told by the organization to post Pro-Miss USA statements on social media, O’Keefe claims 

Asya Branch and Elle Smith, who won in 2020 and 2021 respectively, were told to release Pro-Miss USA statements, O’Keefe said an inside source told her. 

‘We’ve been told by insider sources that they were, in fact, instructed to release these videos of themselves, sticking up for the organization and for the new Miss USA,’ O’Keefe told DailyMail.com. 

Although it is unclear who the source is, O’Keefe said the person comes ‘directly within the Miss USA Board of Directors.’

O’Keefe claimed they were the only ones to come out and support the organization and that’s because they worked directly under Stewart, as titleholder. 

‘They need someone on their side, because all of us are speaking out against them. So they’re trying to, you know, they come back at us with people that work for them,’ O’Keefe told DailyMail.com. 

Gabriel has not publicly spoken on about this topic. 

Miss Texas was the only one to get FREE advertisement from Miss Academy, while the other girls had to sell ad pages to get promoted, O’Keefe claims 

Miss Texas was also reportedly the ‘only one’ featured on the official Miss USA page, a move O’Keefe said ‘no other state contestant got.’

The post was eventually taken down and an apology was issued, according to O’Keefe, who said that fueled the favoritism rumors even more. 

For other girls, like O’Keefe, to be featured in organization affiliates’ TikTok, they had to sell ad pages to go into the program book. 

If a contestant sold one ad page, their TikTok would be reposted on the main account. If they sold two pages, they would get a social media takeover, O’Keefe said. 

O’Keefe managed to sell one page and said her TikTok was featured on the account.  

The viral hair moment was actually taken the day after the crowning, Gabriel claims, but O’Keefe insists others have told her a professional hair and makeup team were seen sneaking out of the winner’s room

A photo of Stewart (pictured in black) doing Gabriel’s hair went viral, sparking concerns that she got preferential treatment. However, Gabriel insisted the photo was taken the day after she won when she was getting her Miss USA official headshots, but other contestants have privately told O’Keefe they saw professional hair and makeup coming out of her hotel room 

A photo of Stewart doing Gabriel’s hair backstage has been circulating.

The seemingly innocent photo of Stewart pulling the winner’s hair into a tight ponytail is evidence of her favoritism, the other contestants have claimed.

However, Gabriel said it happened the day after the crowning right before her official Miss USA headshots.

‘That’s the first thing I did after I won was wake up the next day and do hair and makeup and Crystle was there, of course,’ she told The Rundown. ‘She stepped in and actually in my hair because she said: ‘Hey, I can do a snatched ponytail’ and I said: ‘I’d love to see it.’

‘So she hopped in and did it,’ she explained. ‘Unfortunately, it looks like it maybe happened before I won, but that is my official Miss USA headshot after I won.’

O’Keefe claimed ‘a lot of girls’ have come to her privately, saying ‘they saw a hair and makeup artist coming out of her hotel room.’ 

‘I didn’t see it with my own eyes, so I can’t speak to that. But I do know there are several contestants coming forward saying that they saw her receiving special hair and makeup assistance when the rest of us weren’t given that opportunity,’ she told DailyMail.com. 

Miss USA Class of 2022 contestants are claiming that organizers preselected the winner: Their arguments and the ones Miss Texas has debunked 

Many contestants are coming forward saying that Miss USA 2022 received preferential treatment since the moment she won Miss Texas. 

Here are some of their arguments and what R’Bonney Gabriel has said to debunk them: 

NIZUC spa ad posted less than 24 hours after her crowning

What they said: Contestants have wondered how she managed to cash in her prize in what appeared in less than 24 hours. The promotion, they discovered, was filmed nine weeks ahead of the competition, which they say shows she knew she had already won. 

Miss Montana, Heather Lee O’Keefe, claimed her affiliation with the brand prior to winning would violate handbook rules.  

What she said: Gabriel claims she was a brand ambassador for MIA Beaute – which opened a spa inside NIZUC Resort in Mexico – after winning Miss Texas. The brand is a sponsor of the Miss Texas pageant. NIZUC is a national sponsor.

She has also claimed that many contestants have worked with national sponsors before winning. 

The viral hair moment 

What they said: Contestants have been milling over a photo of Miss USA President Crystle Stewart doing Gabriel’s hair backstage. They claim the staging area is the same place they got ready for the pageant and no one else received this treatment. 

What she said: The winner said the photos were taken the day after the pageant as she was preparing to take her office Miss USA headshots. 

Contestants leaving during the crowning 

What they said: The contestant left the stage earlier than usual, directly after Gabriel was crowned the winner. O’Keefe said they did what they ‘thought was right’ in the moment and that Gabriel was ‘on her own’ when she came back. 

Several contestants have come forward to say they have nothing against Gabriel, just that they believe the organizers favored her.  

What she said: Gabriel claims she was met with a lot of hugging and congratulations after the feat and that the other women were told to leave the stage because there was not enough time for them to come down to congratulate her. 

She also admitted she did not think they left the stage because of her being crowned the winner.  

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