Donald Trump weighs in on Miss Universe selfie
Donald Trump is speaking out about the selfie seen around the world.
Miss Israel (Doron Matalon) posted a photo to Instagram Sunday showing Miss Lebanon (Saly Greige) standing next to her. The picture caused an outrage in Lebanon, with Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper describing the scene as a "photobombing" by Miss Israel. The paper writes: "Some Lebanese asked that Greige be stripped from her title for mingling with the citizen of an enemy state."
On Facebook, Miss Lebanon said she was actually in the photo by accident.
She wrote, "I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel. I was having a photo with Miss Japan, Miss Slovenia and myself; suddenly Miss Israel jumped in, took a selfie, and put it on her social media."
Donald Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organization, told Inside Edition, "I was saddened by it, because, you know, you have two countries that haven't gotten along for a long time and now you have these two young ladies they come to the Miss Universe Pageant in Miami and it's terrible. Ultimately what the Miss Universe Pageant is...is something that brings beautiful and really smart women altogether. And this is a case where it's almost had the opposite effect on these two."
Miss Israel agreed that the outrage is petty: "It doesn't surprise me, but it still makes me sad. It's a shame that we can't all set the hostility aside just for the period of the competition."
On Wednesday, Trump also took to Twitter about the issue:
Miss Israel and Miss Lebanon- "no more fighting!" #TrumpVlog #MissUniverse http://t.co/W8lWq9C5Qs
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 21, 2015
The Miss Universe Pageant airs live from Miami Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.