Try to conjure the most awkward thing that might happen during a nationally televised beauty pageant. It happened. Last night, Steve Harvey, host of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, had to announce that he named the wrong winner and runner-up–after the climactic crowning had already taken place.
Here's Harvey announcing Miss Colombia as the winner:
And here's Miss Colombia having her crown removed seconds later:
Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, was already basking in the glow of her win when Harvey admitted he made the mistake. He then called up the actual winner–Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach. Confusion, excitement, disappointment, and a collective national cringe followed.
Harvey followed up with a (now deleted) apologetic tweet (in which he originally misspelled both countries as "Philippians" and "Columbia."
Not a good night for him. He's since posted an extended apology:
The official Miss Universe Twitter account released video statements from both Miss Colombia and Miss Phillipines:
[twitter ]https://twitter.com/MissUniverse/status/678800378176008192[/twitter]
And the memes are already starting...
