If I see one more newscast replay the video of Miss USA Rachel Smith slipping and landing on her bottom during last night’s Miss Universe pageant I’m going to scream. If that’s how I feel imagine what the Tennessee native must be going through the night after what has got to be one of her most embarrassing moments to date.
If you missed the unfortunate incident you obviously have been living under a rock… I mean… you obviously must not watch television… I mean—well, here’s what you missed: while Smith was modeling her evening gown during last night’s live telecast she simply lost her footing and BAM– down she went– right on her behind. To her credit she got right back up, smiled, pivoted and made like nothing happened. Personally, I think it was one of the best recoveries ever, and frankly, despite the tumble I don’t recall seeing a single hair on head move before, during or after the incident. (Sales of her hair spray must have sky rocketed today.)
Adding insult to injury was the fact that an estimated 600 million people in more than 180 countries saw the incident. All of those viewers also saw another humiliating event occur to Smith—she was booed during her interview then taunted with chants of “Mexico! Mexico!” by various members of the audience (reportedly residents of the pageant’s host city Mexico) until she spoke in Spanish. Smith finally uttered: “Buenas noches Mexico. Muchas gracias!” (“Good evening, Mexico. Many thanks”), which earned her applause.
Addressing the booing incident, pageant co-owner Donald Trump told news reporters: “Rachel has been a great Miss USA, and she’s really a nice person, and I don’t think they were booing Rachel, perhaps they were booing some policies of the United States, to be honest with you.”
That may be so, but for Smith, who ended her night of mishaps with a fourth place finish, I’m sure she was simply glad the pageant came to an end before news crews could get anymore damning footage on her.
By the way, in case you were wondering, Riyo Mori, a 20-year-old dancer from Japan, was the one who actually walked away with the crown, though you’d never know it had you watched American news—all they seemed to have time to show was Smith’s fall.
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