Miss Mexico Andrea Meza Wins Miss Universe 2020
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A year after the annual competition went on a hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Meza was crowned Miss Universe 2020 on Sunday evening.
Meza, 26, beat out 73 other women representing their countries and territories, including runner-up, Miss Brazil Julia Gama, and second runner-up, Miss Peru Janick Maceta Del Castillo.
Meza — who has a degree in software engineering, according to her contestant biography — was presented the crown by her successor, Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
The new Miss Universe is Mexico!!!! #MISSUNIVERSE pic.twitter.com/Mmb6l7tK8I
— Miss Universe (@MissUniverse) May 17, 2021
During her final statement, Meza was given the topic of changing beauty standards, and offered an inspiring answer.
“We live in a society that more and more is more than advanced, and as we advance as a society, we’ve also advanced with stereotypes,” she said. “Nowadays beauty isn’t only the way we look. For me, beauty radiates not only in our spirit, but in our hearts and the way that we conduct ourselves. Never permit someone to tell you that you’re not valuable.”
Earlier in the night, Meza was also asked how she would have handled the COVID pandemic if she was the leader of her country, and said she would have started a lockdown earlier.
“I believe there is not a perfect way to handle this hard situation such as COVID-19,” she said. “However, I believe what I would have done is create the lockdown even before everything was that big because we lost so many lives and we cannot afford that. We have to take care of our people. That’s why I would have taken care of them since the beginning.”
Meza was a standout during Sunday’s show, which began with a swimsuit segment ahead of an evening gown portion and interview questions. Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi also graced the stage for a performance alongside the Top 5 contestants.
According to her contestant biography, Meza is also an activist focused on women’s rights, and works closely with the Municipal Institute for Women.
Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images Miss Mexico Andrea Meza
She’s also a certified makeup artist and model, an extreme sports and Crossfit fan, and is the official Tourism Brand Ambassador for the city of Chihuahua.
The 69th Miss Universe show comes over a year after Tunzi, 27, last earned the crown in 2019. No winner was named last year after the pageant went on a hiatus amid the pandemic.
In March, it was announced that the competition would be returning with a live broadcast after a number of safety precautions were put in place.
“We have spent months planning and preparing safety precautions to develop this edition of Miss Universe — one that will be memorable, special and totally innovative,” the organization’s president, Paula M. Shugart, said at the time.
The safety precautions, administered by Seminole Hard Rock’s Safe + Sound, were modeled after the 2020 Miss USA competition that took place in November, and included contests quarantining upon arrival, frequent testing, mask use and social distancing.
Aside from the new winner, this year’s pageant — which was hosted by Mario Lopez and Olivia Culpo — featured an impressive roster of women.
Some standouts included Miss Curacao Chantal Wiertz, Miss Canada Nova Stevens, Miss Ireland Nadia Sayers and Miss Philippines Rabiya Mateo.
Wiertz’s autism diagnosis inspired her to empower others with special needs through her social media campaign #CelebrateYourUniqueness, according to her contestant bio.
Stevens, who grew up away from her family in Canada after they fled the civil war in Sudan, used her voice to co-found two initiatives, Freedom March Vancouver and Black Freedom Society, her bio states. Both initiatives focus on “eradicating hate and racism experienced by black and indigenous people of color.”
Sayers also used her platform for good and focused on reducing the stigma around mental health after her own struggles as a child, according to her bio. She now works in suicide prevention with a mental health charity that develops comic books based on survivors’ stories.
As for Mateo, she is the current ambassador for education in the Philippines, per her bio. Her passion for the job ultimately led her to start a reading and food program for underprivileged and malnourished children in Iloilo city.
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Stephcynie’s resiliency, determination, and undeniable talent have cemented her status as an in-demand vocalist with a solid foundation in the music scene. From her Billboard features to collaborations with industry heavyweights like Eric Church and Christopher Cross, Stephcynie consistently pushes boundaries and exceeds expectations.
“No Lie” marks the beginning of Stephcynie’s journey to greatness. With her commanding stage presence and resilient artistry, she’s destined to inspire the next wave of musicians.
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Lifestyle
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
In the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Emilio Garcia said that after a night out in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain, he was in an SUV with the hip-hop star when she began having sex with another woman right next to him. He was unable to get out of the moving car, and would have been in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country even if he was able. Garcia was “embarrassed, mortified and offended throughout the whole ordeal,” according to the lawsuit.
Alex Spiro, Megan’s lawyer, said she would fight the lawsuit in court.
“This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,” Spiro said.
The next day Megan told Garcia never to discuss what he saw and berated and fat-shamed him, the lawsuit said. The complaint also said Garcia, who had already considered quitting because he was overworked and underpaid in a hostile work environment aggravated by Megan’s possessiveness and abusiveness, was misclassified as an independent contractor but treated as an exclusive employee.
Garcia raised those issues in the conversation with Megan, and was fired the following day after four years of working for her, the suit said. He has since filed a job discrimination complaint with the California Civil Rights Department.
The lawsuit, first reported by NBC News, names as defendants Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete; her companies Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment and Hot Girl Touring; and her label, Roc Nation. A defense response has yet to be filed. There was no immediate response to an email seeking comment from a representative of Roc Nation.
Garcia is seeking financial damages to be determined at trial, alleging he has suffered severely both emotionally and physically because of his treatment on the job, the firing and having to witness the scene in the SUV.
Megan, 29, was previously involved in major legal drama — and underwent a torrent of online abuse — as the victim of a shooting by rapper Tory Lanez, who a jury found fired at her feet on a street in the Hollywood Hills in 2020. She testified at the trial where jurors convicted Lanez of three felonies and a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Already a major rising artist at the time of the shooting, Megan has since become one of hip-hop’s biggest stars. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”
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April 15 (UPI) — The body of O.J. Simpson, who died last week at the age of 76, is to be cremated, a lawyer representing the ex-football superstar’s estate said, adding his brain will not be donated for research.
Malcolm LaVergne, Simpson’s longtime attorney and executor, told the New York Post that his client’s body is to be cremated Tuesday in Las Vegas.
He said Simpson’s family also gave a “hard no” to scientists seeking to examine the former running back’s brain for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is better known as CTE.
CTE is a rare and little understood brain disorder that is likely caused by repeated blows to the head. According to the Mayo Clinic, CTE results in the death of nerve cells in the brain and the only way to definitively diagnose it is with an autopsy of the organ after death.
Memory and thinking problems, confusion, personality changes and erratic behavior, including aggression, depression and suicidal ideation, are among CTE’s symptoms, the Alzheimer’s Association said.
The disease has been found in those who play contact sports, including football and hockey.
LaVergne confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that at least one person has called seeking Simpson’s brain.
“His entire body, including his brain, will be cremated,” he said.
Simpson died Wednesday following a battle with cancer.
Known by the nickname “The Juice,” Simpson was a NFL superstar during the 1970s, which made him a household name that propelled him into film and television during the next decade.
But his stardom would come crashing down in the mid-1990s when he was accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
His high-profile trial lasted months, but ended with his acquittal.
In 2008, he was found guilty on a dozen charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery, and was paroled in 2017 after serving nine years of his 33-year sentence.
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