Miss Universe 2019: Steve Harvey Catches Heat for Eye Rolling Over Climate Change Question

Miss Universe viewers caught host Steve Harvey rolling his eyes Sunday night during the pageant's [...]

By Libby Birk

Miss Universe viewers caught host Steve Harvey rolling his eyes Sunday night during the pageant's live broadcast after asking a contestant about climate change. In a clip shared on social media, Harvey asks Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi what future generations can do to "protect future generations from climate change," then can be seen giving off a massive eye roll as he waits for a response from Tunzi.

Eagle-eyed fans immediately spotted the tense moment and wondered why Harvey was fed up with the question. One person wondered if he was bored of the political questions in general, while others simply laughed at him for expressing his true feelings on the matter.

The moment was one of many that caught people's attention as out of the ordinary amid the ceremony. At one point, it appeared that Harvey had announced the wrong winner of the National Costume category as Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados when Miss Malaysia Shweta Sekhon came on stage to accept the honor. Sekhon asked Harvey for the mic and explained, "It's not Philippines, it's Malaysia."

Harvey, who in 2015 infamously announced the wrong Miss Universe winner, defended himself and said that he read the show's teleprompter correctly this time.

"Well, let me explain something, I just read that in the teleprompter," Harvey said, before turning to the producers in the control booth. "Y'all gotta quit doin' this to me. I can read! They are trying to fix it now, but this is what they did to me back in 2015."

But as it turns out, Harvey was correct in announcing Miss Philippines as the winner of National Costume. The pageant took to Twitter early Monday morning to announce that Harvey "had it right" and that Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados was the winner of the National Costume competition. The organization did not explain why Sekhon, Miss Malaysia, was on stage to accept the honor, nor did it explain a previous, since-deleted tweet congratulating Sekhon for winning.

Elsewhere during the ceremony, fans called out Harvey for an off-the-cuff joke about Miss Colombia Gabriela Tafur, who said that he was "forgiven" for the infamous 2015 snafu.

"You've forgiven me [but] the cartel has not," Harvey quipped. "They're not handling it the same way."

The comment immediately sparked backlash from critics who voiced their opinion on social media, calling it offensive and inappropriate.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of