“They picked the ugliest girls,” ex-minister says as Miss DR row sparks outrage

Santo Domingo.- Janet Camilo, former minister of women’s affairs, unleashed a blistering public attack on the recently crowned Miss República Dominicana Universo 2025, declaring on live radio that organizers “chose a group of the ugliest girls in the country.” The comment landed like a bomb on CDN’s Marcando El Rumbo and sparked immediate outrage across social media and professional circles.

Camilo called the selection “disappointing” and insisted that “not even the winner can be considered a true representative of the country.” She questioned the contestants’ reliance on heavy makeup and implied that without those cosmetics they would look “very different.” She also criticized the contestants’ heights and suggested that many fail to meet the profile that historically succeeds on the Miss Universe stage. The ex-minister urged pageant director Magalis Febles and her team to urgently review selection criteria: “What we present internationally should make us proud as a nation,” she said.

Her blunt language provoked swift rebuttals from mental-health professionals and advocates. Psychologist Juan Rojas invoked international guidance and basic ethics, reminding the public that no one lacks intrinsic dignity. He warned that public shaming by influential figures harms collective self-esteem and risks normalizing discriminatory stereotypes. Rojas suggested such remarks may reflect personal bias or a search for attention rather than constructive critique.

Bigger questions about pageants, power and representation

Camilo framed her critique as a cultural concern: she lamented that recent winners do not reflect “traditional” Dominican beauty and suggested causes ranging from a decline of interest in pageants to mismanagement of candidate selection. She referenced past titleholders like Amelia Vega and Celinee Santos as exemplars she believes once projected Dominican beauty on the global stage.

Organizers did not immediately issue a formal response. The new queen, Jennifer Ventura, now finds herself at the center of a national debate that goes beyond cosmetics and crowns. The controversy forces a larger public conversation: should beauty contests preserve old standards, update their criteria for a changing society, or be judged on metrics that value achievement, social impact and diversity rather than narrow aesthetics?

In a country where image intersects with tourism and national pride, the fight over a crown taps raw cultural nerves. Camilo presents her remarks as a patriotic plea; critics call them gratuitous and harmful. Either way, the dispute reveals how charged and politically visible questions of representation remain, and how a single, scathing sentence from a public figure can set off a storm.