The company that owns the Miss Universe pageant filed for bankruptcy Thursday, but its upcoming pageant will go on as planned.
JKN Global Group cited a “liquidity problem” regarding the issue, WION reported Friday.
In a statement on the company’s website, JKN Global Group said it has a “strategic corporate financial management plan to cope with the current financial situation.”
The statement continued:
We are confident that the new plan will support all of the company’s business operations, including Miss Universe.
We confirm that Miss Universe 2023 will be held in El Salvador on 18 November 2023, where a top notch experience provided to our fans will remain our top priorities. We reaffirm that the legacy of Miss Universe will be carried on by JKN Global Group as envisioned from the beginning.
The company is led by transgender rights advocate Anne Jakrajutatip, who took over the pageant’s brand in 2022.
The WION article continued:
In the rehabilitation petition, JKN seeks to adjust interest rates on existing debt, extend the debt repayment period, and propose itself as the orchestrator of this process. The company, grappling with global and domestic economic challenges, has delayed payments for its bonds, leading to the decision to pursue business rehabilitation.
In July, Breitbart News reported the Miss Universe leaders welcomed transgenders competing in the pageant. However, it was a requirement that those individuals must have undergone “gender-affirming” surgery in order to join.
It is important to note that Jakrajutatip transitioned from being a man to living as a woman when he was in his thirties.
In June 2022, Miss Universe issued a social media post about menstruation with guidelines on how to talk about it, Breitbart News reported at the time.
“Inclusive language is important, especially when speaking about periods,” the post read:
“Thinking menstrual health is only a niche topic for woman excludes transgender, non-binary and gender-nonconforming people who have periods from the conversation,” it said.
The article also noted that “biological males are increasingly dominating spheres that once belonged to biological women,” citing beauty pageants and magazines.
Per the WION report, the pageant in El Salvador will feature, for the first time, two transgender women contestants.