Drama ensues at the Miss International Queen 2025 pageant
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Miss International Queen USA, Midori Monet, won the beauty pageant for trans women on September 20, and the moment has gone viral on social media for all the wrong reasons.
Clips shared on social platforms show that Monet’s win was overshadowed by drama as fellow contestants seemingly ignored the newly crowned Miss International queen and instead rushed to congratulate Miss Cuba.
Monet’s win is historic as she is the third American to take the crown since the pageant’s inception in 2004. She is also the first Black trans woman from the U.S. to achieve this prestigious honor.
Monet is seen standing alone center stage until Miss Malaysia, Khloe Ambrose, and Miss Indonesia, Kaycia Lee, hurried to congratulate Monet after her victory. At the same time, the majority of the competitors rallied around Olivia Lauren
@real_missosology Drama in Miss International Queen 2025 - contestants cheered for the 1st runner-up, Cuba's Olivia Lauren
♬ original sound - Missosology
Ironically, the theme for this year’s competition aimed to promote inclusion, equality, and pride in trans communities worldwide. However, the drama continued to follow the winners off-stage in an awkward exchange.
In a post-pageant interview, Miss Cuba openly called out the alleged “bullying” throughout the competition.
“The two that you see standing next to me have made it impossible for me to enjoy 100% of it,” Lauren said, referring to Miss USA and Miss Vietnam, who stood beside her.
“They have tortured me throughout the whole thing, as well as my other sisters, each and every single day.”
But Monét remained cordial in her response, urging people to focus on love.
“There is so much hate going around. There is so much envy, bitterness, jealousy, all the things that plague this world. I want you to know that it’s okay to believe in yourself.”
The winner ended on a positive note: “Karma is real. Love is real. It’s not about what you do, but about your actions are about how you make people feel.”
After receiving backlash online, Miss Cuba apologized for her comments.
“I realize it was not right to speak out publicly before talking with them directly. We have since had an open conversation and cleared things up with understanding. I respect them and all my fellow contestants deeply,” Lauren said in a statement.
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