A former Miss USA contestant says the organization’s ousted president had “something to hide” after the 2022 rigging scandal erupted.
Former Miss Montana Heather Lee O’Keefe said disgraced President Crystle Stewart’s body language in the New York Times/FX documentary “How to Fix a Pageant” spoke “volumes” about the true nature of the allegations.
“I don’t think it really looked well for her,” the 26-year-old Floridian exclusively told The Post Wednesday.
“I think that shows she maybe had something to hide, or she’s just trying to cover her tracks.”
Stewart appeared stiff throughout her interview with filmmakers and often glanced toward her lawyer, Nathan Sheffield, who once had to step in to coach her on how to respond.
Stewart was accused of preselecting then-Miss Texas R’Bonney Gabriel — who went on to win Miss Universe — as the 2022 winner.
The allegations would eventually cause Miss Universe — which owns Miss USA — to kick Stewart out of her role.
After the parent organization cut ties with Stewart and her pageant training company Miss Brand, it announced it would conduct a third-party investigation through the Holland & Knight law firm.
The only finding that came forth from the months-long deep dive in which O’Keefe spent four hours talking to investigators was that the pageant was “not rigged.”
However, contestants never received a copy of what the firm discovered outside of that, nor did it answer the favoritism complaints against Gabriel.
Several contestants, including Miss DC Faith Porter and O’Keefe, had heard rumors prior to the competition that Gabriel would take the coveted crown.
“Of course, being in the industry, you hear the rumors going around that: ‘Oh, Texas is a favorite, R’Bonney is the favorite for Texas, and she’s the favorite for Miss USA.’ Before she even won Texas there was chatter about it,” O’Keefe recalled.
Porter heard similar things, telling filmmakers: “My whole family came and they were telling me: ‘So-and-so said, you know, apparently it’s going to go to Texas.’ I remember saying: ‘Everyone really likes her in the staff, but I don’t know if they would crown her because the directors are going to riot.'”
State directors did call a meeting with Stewart about Gabriel on Sept. 8, 2022, as contestants were alleging she had special perks they were denied.
“We all went into it believing it was fair, and I think the reason why we all just walked off stage immediately after and weren’t shocked at all is because we had this in the back of our minds this whole time we saw the special treatment that she had gotten,” O’Keefe said.
The crowning moment was a huge piece of evidence for avid pageant fans, who quickly took to social media to point out that the other girls had not celebrated Gabriel’s win — as is tradition.
Gabriel denied it, telling E! News’ “The Rundown” at the time that the pageant “time was cut short” and there “wasn’t time” for the girls to come down and celebrate.
In addition, O’Keefe called Stewart “hypocritical” for taking a “direct dig” at the contestants in the documentary.
Stewart praised the women for using the voices, but said it was for the “wrong reasons.”
O’Keefe said it felt like it was a “direct knife to the chest” because she was “supposed to be our leader.”
“I thought it was hypocritical for her to say that we were using our voice for the wrong reasons because that’s exactly why we stepped into these roles as titleholders to stand up for what we believe in,” she said.
A representative for Stewart and Miss Brand declined to comment due to a “pause on interviews.” Miss Universe declined to comment.
The Post also reached out to the Miss USA for comment.
