Miss Panama winner Italy Mora is no longer in the running for the Miss Universe competition next week.
The international beauty pageant is set to take place in less than a week in Mexico City, but Panama no longer has a contender! Why? Because the organization mysteriously dropped the country’s 19-year-old representative earlier this month! All because she… left her hotel room?? Wait a minute…
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On November 2, the official Instagram account for Miss Universe Panama revealed Italy Mora’s sudden withdrawal:
“The Miss Universe organization regrets to announce the withdrawal of the Panama candidate from the Miss Universe 2024 pageant. This decision has been made after a thorough evaluation conducted by our disciplinary commission. The disciplinary commission responsible for maintaining the integrity and values of the competition, conducted a full audit in this regard and, based on the information gathered and reviewed, concluded that the withdrawal is the most appropriate course of action under the current circumstances.”
You can read the full statement (below):
“The integrity and values of the competition”?? Mora must have done something really bad, right??
Rumors rightly began to swirl about what sort of behavior led to the harsh decision. In the past pageant winners have been stripped of their titles for drugs, nude photo scandals, that kind of thing. But this one? She left her hotel when she wasn’t supposed to.
According to multiple local outlets, Italy left her hotel room in Mexico to go visit her boyfriend Juan Abadia without being authorized to do so. However, the teen disputes such narrative, instead claiming the decision was made after she had a dispute with Cesar Anel Rodriguez, the director of Miss Universe Panama. SHE claimed Cesar didn’t provide the proper financial support necessary for her to compete in the competition, and that her BF had to cover some of the expenses. She wrote in an IG Story post on November 3:
“Cesar said he didn’t have the money to cover the hotel or makeup costs.”
She claimed it was Cesar who actually arranged for her to go to her BF’s hotel room in the first place:
“I was told that this measure was taken due to non-compliance with leaving the room, which I admit occurred to put on makeup and collect personal items. Unfortunately, I trusted and followed instructions without measuring the consequences. However, I want to express that I consider it to be a severe measure and that instead it could have been resolved with a dialogue or a warning.”
Juan has since corroborated Italy’s argument — but it’s too late. She’s been disqualified for good, leaving fans stunned and a Panama-sized hole in the competition. In an interview with La Mordida, Italy claimed she and her BF spent a total of $100k on her Miss Panama run, and at least $15,000 on their trip to Mexico where she was disqualified at the last minute. Damn.
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers?
[Images via Miss Universe/YouTube]
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