In December, Steve Harvey made an amazing host flub by mistakenly crowning Miss Colombia as Miss Universe, then, minutes later, awarding the real winner Miss Philippines. On both Monday and Tuesday, Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez and Harvey reunited on his unbelievably not-cancelled afternoon talk show before a live audience so everyone could feel awkward about it!
During the interview—where the comedian-turned-talk show host welled up with tears and said that he’s “beyond sorry” for his internationally viewed mistake—Harvey asked Gutierrez how she felt about that unfortunate moment and she had a great come back, as shown above.
“You need to learn to read cards because it was on the card,” she said with a laugh.
Harvey was visibly uncomfortable, but Gutierrez kindly lightened the mood with a joke, saying that Harvey wanted her to win, which is why he called her name.
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During the remainder of the pair’s chat, Gutierrez described how the aftermath of Harvey’s mistake felt.
“It was like a nightmare, I was watching the video and I couldn’t believe that happened to me,” she said. “I needed time to be with my family, to calm down… but let’s break the ice, you keep making mistakes, [my name is] Ariadna.”
During the interview, Harvey blamed the producers for his mispronunciation, threatened to curse out some of his staff, and thanked her for coming, for the millionth time. Then he asked her, in a round-about way, about the many racist social media posts written about her, as well as Colombians burning effigies of he and Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach because of his mistake.
“I don’t feel proud about that, Colombians are not like that,” she said. “We have to understand that people feel angry because they feel like they were robbed [of] the crown… everyone was expecting that…. They feel humiliated and it was so harsh to watch the show and then… but I have to apologize for them because we’re not like that.”
She and Miss Philippines are scheduled to meet up soon, when the newest Miss Universe has the time. Ariadna continually took the high road and called for the online bullying of her, Pia and Harvey to stop.
“She’s beautiful, look at her, she’s Miss Universe,” she said.
Harvey also asked whether the winners should share the Miss Universe crown in the future, to which Gutierrez quipped, “I’ve already shared the crown.”
Ultimately, Gutierrez is doing more with her 15 minutes than Harvey has done with his: she said hopes the moment will allow her to create a bigger mark than the Miss Universe pageant and become a role model for young girls in Colombia and around the world. Harvey then asked if she was intending to sue the Miss Universe pageant for the mistake (right, because they’re the ones who should be sued, if anyone is), to which she responded no, though a number of lawyers have apparently offered their services.
Finally, Gutierrez told Harvey that she forgave him for “The Big Mistake” the same night of the show, to which Harvey sat teary-eyed and relieved. Harvey has already basically been asked to host the next Miss Universe pageant, probably because people will most likely watch just to see if he learns to read cards within the next 10 months. But please don’t. Please stop encouraging Steve Harvey America; you’ve seen what happens when we do.
Contact the author at Hillary@jezebel.com.