An American beauty queen vying for the Miss Universe crown is defending herself against accusations of xenophobia, saying her controversial comments were meant to show how much she admires two of her competitors.
Sarah Rose Summers has been hit with backlash for comments she made in two videos about Miss Universe contestants from Cambodia and Vietnam.
鈥淢iss Cambodia is here and doesn鈥檛 speak any English, and not a single other person here speaks her language. Can you imagine?鈥� Miss USA said in one video.
鈥淟ike, [Miss Australia Francesca Hung] said that that would be so isolating and I said 鈥榊es, and just confusing all the time.鈥欌��
In another video, Summers, Hung and Miss Colombia Valeria Morales were asked what they thought of Miss Vietnam.
鈥淪he鈥檚 so cute and she pretends to know so much English,鈥� Summers responded.
鈥淵ou ask her a question, after having a whole conversation with her, and she just [nods]. She鈥檚 so adorable.鈥�
The remarks prompted a backlash on social media, with some people calling for Summers to be removed from the competition.
Summers Wednesday defending her comments, saying claims of xenophobia and racism are 鈥渢he opposite of鈥� what she was talking about in the videos.
鈥淚 was in no way intending to be hateful,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e were discussing how difficult it would be to be the only one to speak a language. I cannot imagine. We discussed how much perspective we鈥檝e gained from our time at miss universe through realizing how big and small our world is.鈥�
This year鈥檚 Miss Universe competition will wrap up Dec. 17 in Bangkok. Canada is being represented by Marta Stepien, a 24-year-old model from Windsor, Ont.
