BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Miss USA sorry for offending contestants over lack of English

  • Published
    14 December 2018
Share page
About sharing
Sarah Rose Summers - Miss USAImage source, Instagram
Image caption,

A well-meaning comment from Miss USA resulted in a heated debate across social media

ByBernadette McCague
BBC News

An Instagram post by a beauty queen questioning the English language skills of fellow contestants has caused a stir across social media.

The incident took place in the run-up to this year's Miss Universe competition , external which is being held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday.

Miss USA, Sarah Rose Summers, was quick to apologise , externalafter realising her comments may have come across as offensive, although her original live video post had been liked more than 46,000 times.

Ms Summers had said contestant H'Hen Nie, Miss Vietnam, is "so cute and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she (nods and smiles)."

She added: "Miss Cambodia is here and doesn't speak any English, and not a single other person speaks her language.

"Can you imagine? Francesca (Miss Australia) said that would be so isolating and I said yes and just confusing all the time," Summers said. "Poor Cambodia."

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Instagram
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip instagram post by sarahrosesummers

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of instagram post by sarahrosesummers
Presentational white space

In her apology, which received more than 24,000 likes, Ms Summers said she would "never intend to hurt another."

The three beauty contestants from Cambodia, USA and Vietnam have since had a discussion about what was said on Instagram.

Miss Summers added that it was also important to remember that the Miss Universe contest was an opportunity for women around the world to learn about other cultures and life experiences.

Presentational grey line

You may also be interested in:

  • Delivery man fired for eating food gets sympathy

  • US paper's London crime appeal backfires

  • Comedian refused to sign 'safe space contract'

Presentational grey line

Reaction was swift across social media.

One Instagram user, debrasamuelbrown, added her comment to the original video: "Americans have issues with any non-American English speaking person. It's weird how they expect everybody to speak like a yankee! What a wonderful world we live in with so many beautiful accents and so much flavour!"

Sorany Var, external, a self-confessed 'proud Cambodian-American' posted on Facebook that Rern Sinat, the current Miss Cambodia, did speak English - it was just very basic.

She put this down to the fact that Cambodia was still a developing country, and offered to teach her English "for free".

Comment posted by Sorany Var on FacebookImage source, Sorany Var

Over in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Liya Rika called for more compassion, external, saying she didn't think Miss USA meant to look down on Miss Cambodia, and that people should forgive her:

"Spread love, not hate. She doesn't mean to look down on Miss Cambodia, she speaks out of curiosity."Image source, .
Presentational white space

One user, tinetoy18, did not regard Ms Summers as fit for the Miss USA title: "You deserved to be forgiven but you do not deserve the crown anymore...You're not a good example of a compassionate woman as you claimed."

However, other comments praised her for owning up to her mistake and apologising, including 'Team Elite Indonesia'.

Instagram post: "Never give up Sarah, we are love Miss Universe sisters" "You meant no harm"Image source, Instagram

Top stories

  • McCann stalker contacted Maddie's sister, court told

    • Published
      52 minutes ago
  • Conservatives would scrap stamp duty, Badenoch announces

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • Badenoch hopes to grab attention with policy blitz

    • Published
      3 hours ago

More to explore

  • High security a fact of life for UK Jewish community living in fear of attack

    Members of the Community Security Trust (CST) speak to a police officer at the cordon near the scene of an incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester
  • Why Pickford is England's undisputed number one

    • Attribution
      Sport
    England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford
  • 'One of the greatest things' - Nigeria's art innovators on display in London

    Jimoh Buraimoh, Figural Abstract 1973. Kavita Chellaram. Image courtesy of kó, Lagos © Jimoh Buraimoh
  • Dazzling supermoon illuminates skylines around the world

    The bright supermoon sitting at the tip of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
  • Dog attacks are still rising - even after the XL bully ban

    Montage image showing an XL bully dog and a demonstration by those opposing a ban on the breed
  • Romesh Ranganathan on overexposure and acting with Sheridan Smith

    Romesh Ranganathan pictured in front of a navy blue wall, looking at the camera, in March 2024
  • 'I sleep with a gas mask on': Life next to Portland protest angering Trump

    Brennah Hammar wearing the mask that she sleeps in and sunglasses, standing inside her apartment. There are stacks of items on a dresser, and bare yellow walls
  • Charlie Mackesy reveals much of his new book was lost when iPad was stolen

    An image from Charlie Mackesey's new book showing the fox and the boy
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    ChatGPT image snares suspect in deadly Pacific Palisades fire

  2. 2

    McCann stalker contacted Maddie's sister, court told

  3. 3

    What you need to know ahead of Celebrity Traitors

  4. 4

    Conservatives would scrap stamp duty, Badenoch announces

  5. 5

    Al-Shamie pledged allegiance to 'IS' in 999 call

  6. 6

    It was a normal Saturday night in my pub - then Justin Bieber waltzed in

  7. 7

    Big Brother contestant removed over 'unacceptable language'

  8. 8

    Baroness Lawrence calls for new investigation after killer admits attack

  9. 9

    Einstein's violin sells for £860k at auction

  10. 10

    Chemistry Nobel awarded for work on new materials that could help planet

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Rom-com starring Aimee Lou Wood and Nabhaan Rizwan

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Film Club has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Film Club
  • Exposing a pro-Russian fake news operation

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Global Eye has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Global Eye: Inside a Pro-Russian Fake News Operation
  • Leonardo DiCaprio discusses his new film

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Movies With Ali Plumb has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Movies With Ali Plumb: Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
  • The rise and downfall of Margaret Thatcher

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.