Photo Credit: Sthefany Gutierrez Instagram

Miss Venezuela has pageant has been a prestigious pageant since it became a front runner in Venezuela. The pageant has been milling out beauty queens that leave their mark on International pageant stages at a rate that is unbelievable. But the popular pageant has come under scrutiny from the Cisneros family, as Grupo Cisneros, who own the pageant, have received serious allegations against the pageant.

Social media has been bombarded with former contestants and associates of the Miss Venezuela pageant claiming that corrupt businessmen, had indulged in sexual favours in the pageant before.

Venezuelans, who love their pageants and pageant queens with utmost devotion, were visibly shook and outraged due to the unethical conduct.

Miss Venezuela organizers suspended the pageant almost immediately to do some damage control, and issued statements. “Venezuelans can be sure that the organization will not hesitate to take the necessary measures that make sure no acts against our rules, values and ethical and moral principles are taken,” Cisneros Media President Jonathan Blum said in an statement on the organization’s website.

Miss Venezuela’s official facebook page released a statement that said:

“For more than 40 years, the Miss Venezuela Organization has focused on training talent with internal and external beauty, capable of competing successfully in any national and international scenario; thus contributing to the empowerment of Venezuelan women. The organization has never consented or accepted any act that would otherwise harm its reputation and that of its participants.

That is why, faced with the facts recently described through social networks, anonymous blogs and by some people who had a relationship with Miss Venezuela, the decision has been made to initiate an internal review to determine if some of its related, during the course of its activities, it has engaged in activities that violate the values ??and ethics of the event. While this process is taking place, the 5th Miss Venezuela will close its doors and both the castings of Miss Venezuela and Mister Venezuela will be temporarily suspended.

Likewise, and in parallel, the Organization will focus on the restructuring of the Contest, and will reinforce its code of ethics, rules of participation and each of its internal controls in order to ensure that events such as those attributed to third parties in social networks, have no place around the contest, and that the values ??that underline the intelligence, dignity, beauty and enriching contribution of the participants to the Venezuelan society are always maintained.

Among the contemplated actions are: the creation of a new Beauty Committee; the complete reorganization of Miss Venezuela; as well as the implementation of a representative figure of the Misses, in charge of channeling any concern about issues that could violate their rights or obligations or that violate the code of ethics of the contest.” (loosely translated)

It is still unclear what the fate of the 2018 elections for the pageant will be as the Beauty Committee reviews past violations.