Miss USA apologizes for joking about English skills of two Asian Miss Universe contestants

Updated

Miss USA Sarah Rose Summers has issued an apology after seemingly mocking two of her Miss Universe competitors for knowing little English.

Summers, 24, was filming a selfie video with other pageant queens this week in Bangkok, where the next Miss Universe will be crowned out of 92 participants on December 17.

In the two clips circulating online, Summers makes comments about the English language skills of Miss Vietnam, H'Hen Nie, and Miss Cambodia, Rern Sinat.

"In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize," Summers wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her embracing Miss Cambodia.

"What do you think of Miss Vietnam Nie?" Summers asks in one of the clips. She then answers her own question, saying, "She's so cute and she pretends to know so much English, and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes..." Summers then does an impression of smiling blankly and nodding.

In a second clip, Summers noted that Miss Cambodia "doesn't speak any English, and not a single other person here speaks her language," adding, "Poor Cambodia."

Nie, for her part, is putting the drama behind her, posting a photo of herself kissing Summers on the cheek. On Summers' other side is Sinat. (The photo is the second one in the Instagram gallery.)

While the apology did garner supportive comments, the most-liked comments on Thursday afternoon were less forgiving, with one critic writing, "What you said may not have been MEAN, but it still wasn't nice. You were talking about them behind their backs."

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