The Miss Cayman Islands Universe franchise, which the Ministry of Tourism dropped last month, is being taken over by the committee that has organised the local pageant for more than two decades.
The Miss Cayman Islands Universe Committee has been granted the licence to hold the pageant, chairperson Derri Lee confirmed in a statement Saturday.
Lee will be stepping down as chairperson of the committee, having been appointed national director by the Miss Universe Organization. A new chairperson will be announced soon, she said.
She said she had been spearheading the restructuring of the committee since the Ministry of Tourism announced on 24 Feb. that it was relinquishing the franchise, following the controversy surrounding the trial and conviction of Tiffany Conolly, who was crowned Miss Cayman Islands Universe last August.
Conolly was convicted on 9 Feb. of assaulting her ex-boyfriend, his father and a police officer, and subsequently was stripped of her title, which was handed to first runner-up Chloe Powery-Doxey.
Powery-Doxey, who has still not been officially crowned, represented Cayman in the Miss Universe pageant in New Orleans, Louisiana, in January after Conolly was suspended from making public appearances as Miss Cayman Islands Universe pending the outcome of her trial.
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said his ministry’s and the committee’s lack of autonomy to remove Conolly as Miss Cayman Islands Universe until it received official permission to do so from the Miss Universe Organization has prompted the decision to not continue with the franchise.
In her statement, Lee thanked the tourism ministry for its support over the years.
Bryan, in his statement last month, said his ministry would continue to “provide its support to the subsequent holder of the Miss Cayman Islands Universe franchise”, but did not specify what form this support would take or whether the government would continue to sponsor the event financially.
Lee said the committee was also thankful “to the beautiful Chloe Powery-Doxey, for all her hard work and dedication during this time, as well as the continued support from the general public.”
She said the official crowning of Powery-Doxey would be announced at a later date, and the public would be welcomed to attend the event.
Saying the committee was “excited about this milestone and looks forward to continuing their work which started over 20 years ago, empowering and mentoring young ladies in the Cayman Islands”, Lee added that the committee also acknowledges that the Cayman Islands is “a conservative community and we will adhere to this culture”.
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