Newly crowned Miss Texas under fire for anti-Semitic remarks

The newly crowned Miss Texas USA came under fire just days after she was crowned for an allegedly anti-Semitic remark she made.

The comment resurfaced online, prompting some activists to question why she, Allison Drake, 26, was not punished and why the issue was not addressed by the organization.

Drake became the new title holder last week after the previous winner, R’Bonney Gabriel, won the Miss Universe title in January and resigned her former position.

Organization officials said the first runner-up knocked down the position, leaving Allie next in line.

However, Drake would barely go a day before coming under fire from Jewish influencer Lizzy Savetsky, who shared a video with her nearly 225,000 followers exposing the newly crowned winner for allegedly making an off-color joke about the Holocaust with a fellow participant.

The comment was shared on Instagram by a fellow contestant and read: ‘@alliejdrake gives me the best compliment. “You look like Anne Frank coming out of the Holocaust,” Lmaoo. Proud of you.’

Savetsky said the comment was an irresponsible use of the contestant’s organization and platform.

“As a former pageant girl, I placed third in Miss Teen Texas in 2002, I know that title comes with a lot of responsibility. If you run in an election and you win a crown, you become a role model,” she said.

“Young girls look up to you. You have to be so careful and calculated with the messages you put out and whether you like it or not you have a great influence on impressionable minds.

“This was an extremely irresponsible use of a platform by someone who smiles proudly and wears a crown, not to mention that so much of what she said was not only hateful and ignorant, but just not factual,” Savetsky continued.

In response to the incident, the Miss Texas USA organization said they were aware of the comment but do not believe Drake made it.

The Miss Texas USA Organization and Miss Universe Organization are aware of an anti-Semitic comment posted on social media in July 2022, claiming it was made by Allison Drake.

According to affidavit, this comment was not made by our current Miss Texas USA, Allison Drake. The Miss Texas USA organization denounces and condemns anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry and all forms of discrimination.

Savetsky’s position is that regardless of whether Drake made the comment or not, the Miss Texas USA Organization might have used the incident as a learning opportunity, but did not.

The Miss USA organization said it has an affidavit from Drake that she did not make the Holocaust joke

Savetsky, herself a former beauty pageant girl, said the comments were an opportunity for the Miss USA organization to have a teaching moment, but it didn’t come to that

Miss USA R’Bonney Gabriel became the 9th Miss USA to win the global pageant in her 71-year history

The latest pageant controversy comes about a month after Gabriel, herself a controversial figure, was crowned Miss Universe in New Orleans.

Gabriel’s eventual victory followed a controversy during the Miss USA pageant that Gabriel’s victory was rigged. Fellow American contestants said at the time that Gabriel’s victory was the result of “favouritism.”

The legitimacy of her win was also challenged by fellow contenders who said it was suspicious that a beauty treatment company offering a prize to the winner placed Gabriel in an ad less than 24 hours after she won.

Gabriel appeared in an ad for NIZUC spas less than 24 hours after she won the Miss USA pageant, leading other contestants to believe the contest was rigged from the start.

Miss Montana, Heather Lee O’Keefe claimed the ads proved the winner was unfairly chosen: “@MissUSA was crowned less than 24 hours ago, but she already got her sponsored vacation to @NIZUCResort,” she wrote.

Add: ‘Are you kidding me? I gave you all the benefit of the doubt, but this is just embarrassing right now.”

In her defense, Gabriel claimed she was a brand ambassador for NIZUC’s affiliate MIA Beaute, which also sponsors the Miss Texas pageant and opened a new spa at the NIZUC resort in Mexico.

However, doubters didn’t necessarily believe the excuse, noting that MIA’s founder is one of the judges at the Miss USA contest. O’Keefe claimed that Gabriel’s ambassadorship was a violation of the handbook and that no contestant should have worked with national sponsors of Miss USA.

Controversy continued to grow for Gabriel when a photo circulated of Crystle Stewart, one of the Miss USA organizers, doing Gabriel’s hair backstage. The photo served as more fodder for the claim of nepotism.

However, Gabriel said the photo was taken the day after the coronation, just before official Miss USA headshots.