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Jakarta: The Miss Universe Organisation has cut ties with its Indonesian franchisee and will cancel an upcoming pageant in Malaysia after contestants complained to police and accused local organisers of sexual harassment.
The New York-based organisation said in a statement it had decided to sever ties with PT Capella Swastika Karya and Poppy Capella, the national director of the Indonesian franchise.
Poppy Capella (centre), the national director of the Miss Universe event in Indonesia, with contestants. Credit: Instagram
Six contestants of a Miss Universe Indonesia pageant recently filed complaints with police, accusing local organisers of asking them to strip to their underwear for “body checks” for scars or cellulite, in a room with about two dozen people present, including men. Five contestants said they were then photographed topless.
“In light of what we have learned took place at Miss Universe Indonesia, it has become clear that this franchise has not lived up to our brand standards and ethics,” the Miss Universe Organisation said on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
The organisation also said it would be cancelling this year’s Miss Universe Malaysia as the Indonesian franchisee also holds the licence for the pageant. It said it would make arrangements for the Indonesia 2023 titleholder to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, to be held in El Salvador later this year.
The Miss Universe Indonesia pageant was held from July 29 to August 3 to choose Indonesia’s representative for the 2023 Miss Universe contest and was won by Fabienne Nicole Groeneveld.
PT Capella Swastika Karya is an Indonesian beauty company that took over the licence for Miss Universe Indonesia in March from Yayasan Putri Indonesia, an Indonesian foundation that held the licence for 30 years.
Capella, the company founder, denied her involvement in the physical examination during the contest and said she was against any kind of “violence and sexual harassment”.
“I, as the national director and as the owner of the Miss Universe Indonesia license, was not involved at all and have never known, ordered, requested or allowed anyone who played a role and participated in the Miss Universe Indonesia 2023 process to commit violence or sexual harassment through body checking,” she posted on social media late on Saturday.
Hengki Haryadi, the Jakarta police director for general crimes, said on Sunday that during the Miss Universe Indonesia pageant held in Jakarta, the complainants were forced to remove their clothes and were photographed naked for physical examination in a hotel ballroom.
Poppy Capella, the national director of the Indonesian Miss Universe franchise.Credit: Instagram
“These victims feel forced to take off their clothes and pose inappropriately for body checking that traumatised them,” Haryadi said.
He said police were still examining surveillance cameras from the scene. Investigators would interview the victims and provide psychological assistance, he said.
In its statement, the Miss Universe Organisation said there are no measurements such as height, weight, or body dimensions required to join a pageant worldwide, and thanked the Indonesian contestants “who have bravery in speaking out”.
“To the women who came forward from the Indonesian pageant, we are sorry that this was your experience with our organisation,” the organisation said. It added that it was evaluating the current franchise agreement and policies to prevent this type of conduct from occurring in the future worldwide.
Controversy over the pageant has been mounting in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has a reputation as a tolerant, pluralist society that respects freedom of expression. Most Muslims in Indonesia, a secular country of 277 million people, are moderate, but a small hard-line fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
In 2013, several conservative Muslim groups staged a massive protest against the Miss World competition in Indonesia, prompting the contest to move from Jakarta to the resort island of Bali, and all the contestants were required to wear Bali’s traditional long sarongs instead of the sexy bikinis that are a historical part of the competition.
AP
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