Claims Miss USA boycotting Miss Universe over transgender contestant originated on a fake news site

Morgan Romano was crowned Miss USA in January, but claims that she’s boycotting the next Miss Universe pageant originated on a self-described satire website.

A July 16 Facebook post said: "Miss USA boycotts Miss Universe pageant: ‘I’m not competing against a man. Read it below!’" 

A link in comments lead to a blog called "Laptops Villa" with a post that said the current Miss USA, "Natasha Berkleston," told a journalist that she would "‘not contend with a man’ … alluding to the champ from the Netherlands, Rikki Valerie."  

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Threads posts

stated on October 26, 2024 in a Threads post

Four Florida counties had “zero results” Oct. 26, and “something underhanded might be happening.”

The blog post was first published on Dunning-Kruger-Times, which is part of the America’s Last Line of Defense "network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery." 

Rikkie Valerie Kolle recently became the first transgender woman to win the Miss Netherlands title, and BBC News reports that Kolle will compete in Miss Universe later this year. 

But Natasha Berkleston doesn’t appear to be a real person, and we found no news reports or other credible sources suggesting the real Miss USA — Romano — has said she won’t compete in Miss Universe or that she criticized Kolle’s win. 

We rate this post False.