The government has relinquished the Miss Cayman Islands Universe franchise.
The franchise was held by the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, which announced earlier this month that it was considering dropping it following the recent controversy involving Tiffany Conolly, who was crowned Miss Cayman Islands Universe in August last year.
Conolly was convicted of assault on 9 Feb. and subsequently was stripped of her title, which was handed to first runner-up Chloe Powery-Doxey.
Speaking at a press briefing on 13 Feb., Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan said it had become apparent during the controversy over Conolly that his ministry, under its franchise agreement with the international organisers, “has very limited authority to make decisions independently of the Miss Universe Organization”.
In a statement issued this morning, 24 Feb., Bryan said his ministry was concentrating on other priorities.
“The Cayman Islands Tourism industry is still in recovery and the Ministry is heavily focused on driving visitation and returning tourism arrivals back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
For years, the government had held both the Miss World and Miss Universe franchises, but in 2016, for reasons of finance, decided to drop the former. The following year, Pamela Ebanks-Small won the bid for the Miss World Cayman Islands franchise, and it has been hosted independently since then.
Bryan says he hopes there can be a similar outcome for the Miss Universe franchise locally. In his statement he said he hoped a private-sector entity could step in to take it over, “because in addition to offering tremendous empowerment opportunities for young women, it also allows them to act as positive role models for other young women, and represent the Cayman Islands as a cultural ambassador”.
Bryan said his ministry would continue to “provide its support to the subsequent holder of the Miss Cayman Islands Universe franchise”.
The statement did not specify what form this support would take or whether the government would continue to sponsor the event financially. The Compass has reached out to the ministry for more information regarding the type of support it plans to give the pageant in future, and is awaiting a response.
According to the 2022/2023 Plan and Estimates document, the government budgets $100,000 a year to organise the local pageant and to send the winner to the international competition.
The ministry said it had advised the Miss Universe Organization of its decision, which is supported by Cabinet, and that it had consulted with the chair of the Miss Cayman Islands Universe Committee.
Powery-Doxey, the new reigning queen, will continue to act as the representative of the Miss Cayman Islands Universe pageant with the support of the local organising committee, who will oversee her activities until 31 Aug. when her reign officially ends, the ministry stated.
The Miss Cayman Islands Universe committee is currently planning the official crowning for Powery-Doxey which is expected to be held before the end of March.
Committee chair Derri Dacres-Lee told the Compass that the committee could not comment at this stage on any private entity taking over the franchise, but said she hoped the pageant would go ahead again this year and a new Miss Cayman Islands Universe would be crowned in August.
She added that she was proud of “all my committee members, past and present, for just remaining focused and dedicated to serving the community and trying to empower young ladies here in the Cayman Islands”.
A number of committee members resigned in the wake of what was described as bullying and social media attacks after Conolly was crowned.
Bryan also thanked the committee for its efforts, saying, “I would like to take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge and thank each committee member for their sterling commitment to the Miss Cayman Islands Universe pageant, and for the guidance and support they have offered to the many young ladies who have ascended to the role of Miss Cayman Islands Universe under their tutelage. I wish each of the committee members all the best in their future endeavours,” he said.
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