For more than 70 years, Miss Universe has been a successful business. However, this Thursday its current owner, JKN Global Group, declared bankruptcy a year after purchasing the beauty pageant for $20 million. The situation comes after Anne Jakrajutatip, a transgender businessman, promoted a series of changes within the contest to be more "progressive."
According to a statement published by JKN Global Group, the company accumulated debt that it is seeking to restructure. Despite this, the group maintained that it will continue its operations, so the 72nd edition of Miss Universe is still expected to take place at the José Adolfo Pineda Arena in San Salvador, El Salvador, on Nov. 18, 2023.
"The company can continue its operation while being under the rehabilitation plan," the statement said.
‘We trust that Miss Universe 2023 will be held in El Salvador’
According to what was published, financing for the agreement was obtained through bonds, but the company did not meet the payment deadline of around $12 million that expired on Sept. 1. The Bankruptcy Court of Thailand established Jan. 29 as the date for the hearing of the petition for business rehabilitation, according to the BBC .
In a statement published on JKN's official website, it was detailed that "in response to recent news, JKN Global Group has recently announced its strategic financial management plan to address the current situation. … We are confident that the new plan will support all of the company's business operations, including Miss Universe."
We confirm that Miss Universe 2023 will be held in El Salvador on 18 November 2023, where a top notch experience provided to our fans will remain our top priorities.
An organization to ‘celebrate’ feminism and diversity
The organization has been in the hands of at least four owners, the most notable being former President Donald Trump, who sold it so he could run in the 2016 presidential race. It had never seen such financial turmoil. Additionally, since Trump left the organization, several changes have been made to make the company "progressive."
In 2018, the first transgender person participated in the contest: Angela Ponce, representing Spain. Despite this, the organization maintained some rules regarding the participation of the contestants until that changed in 2022 with the purchase by JKN. Anne Jakrajutatip reported that starting in 2024, women of any age, married, divorced or pregnant, will be able to participate, something that was not allowed previously.
"Welcome to the platform of women empowerment. Miss Universe will now be managed by women and for all women, to celebrate the power of feminism, diversity, social inclusion, gender equality and creativity that are causes for good," said Jakrajutatip at the last Miss Universe pageant, after taking over the contest, making it clear that the company intended to promote the progressive agenda.
Society didn't want to embrace difference, but guess what... I love you too, from the bottom of my heart I have chosen not to give up. I turned pain into power and I turned life's lessons into wisdom. This stage, which is called Miss Universe, is where we can elevate all women so that they feel good and so that they are never turned into objects.
‘The Trump era was perfect’
This year, in particular, this progressive shift that Jakrajutatip has become especially evident, since for the first time two trans people, representatives of Portugal and the Netherlands, will participate. Furthermore, it has been insisted that the organization is no longer based on the beauty of the contestants, their intelligence and the impact they can generate on society.
Contestants explained that it all changed with the departure of President Trump, with the organization now promoting other values. For example, in 2016, Mariam Habach, Miss Venezuela, highlighted that she would like the beauty pageant to return to the Trump era, which she described as "perfect."
"The Trump era was perfect because the best one won. I think that now Miss Universe gave a change for women with history, something different," Habach said during an interview on the program Se Armó la Tramoya.
For seven decades, Miss Universe was a platform for women who have carried out social work and projects around the world. Beauty queens who, after participating in the international contest, the most important in the world, have gone on to have careers in politics, social organizations and the media. For this reason, many people hope that that organization that was not only a beauty contest but actually promoted values to boost the careers of hundreds of young people around the world will return.
