Angie Meyer, described as a “former pageant-organization worker,” expressed her dismay with the photos to Fox News: “It’s alarming that this has been turned into a Playboy-esque masquerade, she said. “By implementing topless photos as part of the pageant process, they’re putting applicants in an extremely compromising position.”
The Miss Universe organization, which is co-run by the Trump Organization and NBC, says they arranged the Las Vegas photo shoot to celebrate the diversity of this year’s contestants. In a statement to Yahoo!, Lark-Marie Anton, vice president of marketing and public relations for pageant, defended the promotion: “The contestants who compete at Miss Universe are diverse, as they represent more than 82 countries around the globe. Many of their cultures embrace nudity,” she said.
