Miss Universe Canada org ‘deeply saddened’ by online comments following controversy

The Miss Universe Canada organization (MUC) has spoken up on the issue surrounding Filipino designer Michael Cinco, and the team behind Miss Universe Canada 2020 Nova Stevens.

Steven’s publicist MGmode Communications had earlier called Cinco out in an Instagram comment, saying that the gowns he had sent her arrived late and were ill-fitting.

Cinco fired back at their claims, insisting that the gowns arrived on time, and that he did not try to sabotage Stevens’ win. He called Stevens “ungrateful” and said she did not even thank him. He also said that he had not been paid.

Since the controversy went public, Stevens has posted screenshots of racist remarks and death threats she has been receiving on Instagram.

In their statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday, May 25, MUC said they were “deeply saddened” over the negative comments directed at Stevens, their organization, other third-party organizations, and their designer supporters.

They explained that they do not commit to a specific design for a specific event, because they work with designers all over the world and receive multiple design options. 

“Instead we collaborate with the reigning MUC titleholder, and based on her input and comfortability in each outfit we decide which outfit to wear at which event. As a result of that, we are not able to wear all of the beautiful designs sent to us,” they said.

They specifically apologized to Cinco and Filipino designer Rian Fernandez, who had also called the organization out, saying his designs for previous Miss Canada titleholders had not been used.

“We strive to ensure our designer partners such as Michael Cinco and Rian Fernandez are always aware of our gratitude for their tremendous support. However, based on recent online statements others believe that we as an organization are not doing as well as we thought. We will strive to do better going forward. We thank and appreciate our design partners tremendously for their ongoing support. We specifically want to apologize to Michael Cinco and Rian Fernandez for any damage these recent incidents have caused to them or to their brand,” MUC said.

They also distanced themselves from comments made by third-party organizations they work with, saying these do not necessarily reflect their opinions.

“While we rely heavily on the collaboration efforts of our third party supporters, it is important to recognize, they are not official representatives of the MUC organization; and while we respect their opinions, those opinions are not necessarily the opinions of the MUC organization,” they said.

They ended their statement by decrying the hate messages received by Stevens, her team, and their organization.

“This type of behavior is unacceptable, and nobody should be subjected to this level of cyber bullying, hate and violence. The MUC organization strongly objects to this level of abuse, and we refuse to partake in stooping to that level of ugliness,” they said. – Rappler.com