The winner of Miss Universe 2024 has been criticised for appearing to lip-sync the N-word at the top of the Empire State Building.
Victoria Kjær Theilvig, who was lauded by Republicans as the “anti-woke winner” when she was crowned, has been attacked by social media users for posting a video of herself where she is apparently miming along to Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”.
The song features a racial slur which the 21-year-old lip-synced but did not appear to say out loud while filming herself at the top of New York’s Empire State Building, wearing her Miss Universe sash and crown.
In the wind-swept video, Ms Theilvig appears to sing along to rapper Jay Z’s line: “N— I be striped out, I could trip a referee, tell by my attitude that I’m most definitely from New York.”
TikTok / @victoriaakjaer
She appears to have deleted the original video which prompted the controversy, and uploaded a clip of her miming along to a different part of the song that does not feature the N-word.
Culture war
While several people on social media attacked the 21-year-old, others suggested that she was falling victim to a culture war.
“A white woman sings a song by a black man and gets called racist by the woke mob,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “She has nothing to apologise about.”
Theilvig had been praised by parts of the American Right for her victory, after last year’s contest featured trans and plus size contestants who finished inside the top 20.
She was praised by some on the Right as an “anti-woke” winner, according to the Daily Beast.
“Biological and objectively attractive women are allowed to win beauty pageants again,” Donald Trump Jr, son of Donald Trump, the president-elect, wrote in a post on social media. “We are so back.”
‘I want to make history’
Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire and a close Trump ally, said the internet had been “stunned” because “an attractive biological female human of healthy weight” had won.
Theilvig won the Miss Universe contest in Mexico City on Nov 16, beating more than 120 contestants.
When asked how she would live differently if nobody would judge her, Theilvig told the judges she would not change anything, saying, “I live by each day.”
She said her message to viewers was to “keep fighting… no matter where you come from”, adding: “I stand here today because I want a change, I want to make history, and that’s what I’m doing tonight.”
Theilvig embarked on a tour of New York after winning the pageant, lighting up the Empire State Building in the red and white of the Danish flag, and is currently making an official visit to Thailand.
Theilvig and the Miss Universe pageant have been approached for comment.
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