Jakarta, IO – The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) officially terminated its licensing agreement with PT Capella Swastika Karya, the organizer of Miss Universe Indonesia, Sunday (13/8).
“From what we have learned from the incident at Miss Universe Indonesia, it becomes clear that this franchise does not meet our brand standards, ethics or expectations as outlined in our franchise guidelines,” wrote Miss Universe Organization, per CNNIndonesia, Monday (14/8).
The revocation of the license for the company owned by Poppy Capella was in response to the allegations of sexual harassment that occurred during the body checking stage of Miss Universe Indonesia contestants which has been in the spotlight lately.
PT Capella Swastika Karya took over the license long-held by Putri Indonesia Foundation (YPI). In February, the company released a statement that it had officially entered into a partnership with MUO and hold the right to send Indonesian representative, the winner of Miss Indonesia, to the global pageant.
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As a licensee, PT Capella Swastika Karya has the right to hold a beauty contest that all Indonesian women from various regions can participate in. The grand final was held at Beach City International Stadium, Ancol in August. This year, Fabienne Nicole was crowned Miss Universe Indonesia.
However, her victory was marred by allegation of nepotism. Then, allegations of sexual harassment emerged after one of the finalists reported the incident to the police. This led to a number of PT Capella Swastika Karya officials, including Rio Motret and Elden Wang, resigning from the company. (un)