Jane Austen Got Misspelled as ‘Jane Austin’ During Miss America

Kira Kazantsev may have become the third Miss New York in a row to be crowned Miss America tonight, but she may be most remembered for a typo during her talent portion of the pageant.

As fun facts about contestants flashed across the screen during their performances, the tidbit “Loves Anything Jane Austin” was shown while Miss New York sang Pharrell’s “Happy” with a red cup (an act popularized by Anna Kendrick in the movie about college a cappella Pitch Perfect).

Assuming the graphic meant to say that Kazantsev is a fan of the Pride and Prejudice author, the name should have been spelled “Jane Austen.” So now Twitter is flooded with sarcastic comments. We’d like to imagine the witty Elizabeth Bennet would have had something clever to say in the moment.

That said, there was an author named Jane Austin. Jane Goodwin Austin (1831-1894) was known for historical novels about Plymouth Colony — think romances about the Pilgrims — and was even friends with Louisa May Alcott, who wrote Little Women. So maybe Kazantsev’s powers of literary namedropping are greater than the Twitterverse thinks.