It has been a week since the Miss Universe pageant yet it seems like it was just yesterday when Steve Harvey made an unforgettable mistake on live television.
On December 20 in Las Vegas, Steve Harvey, a first-time pageant host, made the mistake of crowning the wrong winner of Miss Universe on national television. He announced that USA won second-runner up then continued to announce Miss Universe as Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez. The crowd went wild and Ariadna had tears of joy running down her face as the crown was being placed on her head. Several minutes later, Steve Harvey returns to the camera stating he owes everyone an apology. He misread the result card and meant to say that the title of Miss Universe belongs to Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
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Everyone was in disbelief. The tension in the room was transferred to thousands of homes worldwide. Not only was Colombia's heart broken, but Miss Philippines was also completely robbed of her crowning moment. By the time Steve Harvey corrected himself and crowned Pia, the cameras cut out as the show was scheduled to be over. The grand moment of celebration for Pia was sadly not aired.
For those of you who have yet to watch the countless videos of this awkward situation, videos can be found on all platforms of media from YouTube to Facebook to Twitter to Vine. This video is definitely a must-see.
Steve Harvey, clearly extremely embarrassed, immediately apologized to both Colombia and Philippines after the show. It was an honest mistake and he felt much remorse. He continued to express his sorrow via Twitter and a press release following the event.
There has been much controversy regarding this mistake. In fact, some believe that this was all a planned publicity stunt to give pageantry more press. Others truly believe it was just a genuine mistake.
Personally, I believe Steve Harvey made the mistake with no other intentions. Although it is made clear on the card who the winner was, he jumbled it up. I feel very bad for Steve Harvey though as this will be hard to move on from. Immediately following his mistake, memes were created mocking him. His face was all over Twitter and Facebook with satirical captions. Because of how technologically-inclined our society is, this two minute moment will live on forever.
To much surprise as of December 22, Mark Shapiro, the Chief Content Officer at WME/ IMG, said that Steve Harvey is "absolutely welcome back to host the 2016 pageant." This would be a great opportunity for Steve Harvey to redeem himself as I am sure many viewers will tune in to see how the results turn out.
