--- title: Miss USA on Mocking Ms USA Vietnam at Miss Universe description: Miss USA apologized after mocking Miss Cambodia and Miss Vietnam for not speaking English during the 2018 Miss Universe competition. canonical: https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-13T22:29:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:26.156Z og:title: Miss USA Under Fire for Mocking Miss Cambodia, Miss Vietnam og:description: Now she's addressing the video og:url: https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5894ae32d4663fd4/698941777cdbac857ed5eacb/Miss-USA-apologizes-for-mocking-Miss-Cambodia-Vietnam-during-Universe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Celebrities Visit Build - May 23, 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Miss USA Under Fire for Mocking Miss Cambodia, Miss Vietnam twitter:description: Now she's addressing the video twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5894ae32d4663fd4/698941777cdbac857ed5eacb/Miss-USA-apologizes-for-mocking-Miss-Cambodia-Vietnam-during-Universe.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Miss USA Under Fire for Mocking Miss Cambodia and Miss Vietnam During Miss Universe Competition  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 13, 2018 10:29 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - MAY 23: Miss USA 2018 Sarah Rose Summers visits the Build Series at Build Studio on May 23, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - MAY 23: Miss USA 2018 Sarah Rose Summers visits the Build Series at Build Studio on May 23, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)Dia Dipasupil—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 13, 2018 10:29 PM UTC Sarah Rose Summers, [Miss USA 2018](http://time.com/3778306/beauty-speaks-portraits-of-30-former-miss-usa-pageant-queens/), apologized via her [Instagram account](http://time.com/collection-post/4059656/this-is-what-the-future-of-instagram-looks-like/) on Thursday after a video went viral of her making controversial comments about Nat Rern, Miss Cambodia and H’Hen Nie, Miss Vietnam for not speaking English during the [Miss Universe competition.](http://time.com/5465550/angela-ponce-miss-universe/) Summers was called out online for mocking the two other contestants on Instagram Live; of Miss Vietnam, she commented: “She’s so cute and she pretends to know so much English and then you ask her a question after having a whole conversation with her and she goes…” before going on to mime nodding and smiling. Of Rern, she said, “Poor Cambodia” while talking about her not speaking English. The backlash was swift, and included the popular Instagram account Diet Prada. In her caption, Summers said that she had spoken about the issue with both Rern and Nie and apologized for her comments. “@MissUniverse is an opportunity for women from around the world to learn about each other’s cultures, life experiences, and views. We all come from different backgrounds and can grow alongside one another,” Summers wrote. “In a moment where I intended to admire the courage of a few of my sisters, I said something that I now realize can be perceived as not respectful, and I apologize. My life, friendships, and career revolve around me being a compassionate and empathetic woman. I would never intend to hurt another. I am grateful for opportunities to speak with Nat, Miss Cambodia, and H’Hen, Miss Vietnam, directly about this experience. These are the moments that matter most to me.” The Miss Universe pageant airs on Dec. 16 from Thailand. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/"},"headline":"Miss USA Under Fire for Mocking Miss Cambodia and Miss Vietnam During Miss Universe Competition","datePublished":"2018-12-13T22:29:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:26.156Z","description":"\"I would never intend to hurt another\"","url":"https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5894ae32d4663fd4/698941777cdbac857ed5eacb/Miss-USA-apologizes-for-mocking-Miss-Cambodia-Vietnam-during-Universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5894ae32d4663fd4/698941777cdbac857ed5eacb/Miss-USA-apologizes-for-mocking-Miss-Cambodia-Vietnam-during-Universe.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Celebrities Visit Build - May 23, 2018","caption":"Celebrities Visit Build - May 23, 2018","creditText":"Dia Dipasupil—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5479470/miss-usa-backlash/","name":"Miss USA Under Fire for Mocking Miss Cambodia and Miss Vietnam During Miss Universe Competition"}}]}] ```