A snubbed winner, verbal sparring: The sour ending to this year's Miss International Queen

A moment that should've been about sisterhood turned sour when videos from the close of the 2025 Miss International Queen pageant started being shared across social media.

At this year's Miss International Queen, a pageant for transgender women, a Black woman named Midori Monet, who was representing the U.S., was left to celebrate her win alone as the other contestants consoled the runner-up, Miss Cuba.

In clips shared to TikTok, Monet can be seen standing by herself as the other contestants cheer and dance off to the side without her. The moment was seen by many as racially charged, with some viewers claiming that the other contestants were racist for not embracing Monet after she was announced as the winner.

After she solidified second place, Miss Cuba, Olivia Lauren, was asked in an onstage interview for her thoughts on getting first runner-up and expressed her disappointment about being passed over during a year when the theme was "beyond beauty, open possibilities."

"Throughout this competition, to say the least, I've been bullied, and I have been told I look like a man. I have been pushed. I have been thrown rocks at. And, well, it's a bit of a shock to see what's happened," Lauren said. "It is what it is, and we have to move forward."

In response to being asked for her "sentiments about the new winner," she added, "I think the organization is going to have a lot of work to do, if that's what they choose. But I'm so confused because this was 'beyond beauty.'"

In a separate onstage interview, Lauren spoke out about the alleged mistreatment she said she faced specifically at the hands of Monet and the second runner-up, Miss Vietnam. "The two that you see standing next to me have made it impossible for me to enjoy 100% of it," she said, adding that her fellow contestants made the experience a "very sour" one. "They have tortured me throughout the whole thing, as well as my other sisters, making fun of us each and every single day."

Monet responded to this and said, "There is so much hate going around. There is so much envy, bitterness, jealousy — all of these different emotions that plague this world. I want you to know that it’s okay to believe in yourself." She added, "Karma is real. Love is real. It's not about what you do, but your actions are about how you make people feel."

When videos of the contestants' comments were circulated, Lauren caught flack on social media and was accused of being the real bully in the situation. "I really think Cuba was the bully, probably with micro aggressions,” one TikTok user wrote in the comments section of a video. "And Miss USA and the 2nd runner up was not having it. So, why not be the victim."