Miss World Trinidad and Tobago organisation backs Jeanine Brandt

THE Miss World Trinidad and Tobago organisation on Tuesday issued a statement to strongly back Miss World TT 2021 Jeanine Brandt over her now controversial remarks in which she claimed thousands of children in TT slept on floors and had little or no access to food, schooling or healthcare.

Her remarks, made recently to a pageant judging panel at the Miss World pageant in Puerto Rico, provoked a social media firestorm.

Critics complained it was an inaccurate portrayal of life in TT, but others are defending her stance.

Brandt had declared, "In my country thousands of children live in poverty. Little girls sleep on the cold ground in makeshift homes. They have no access to running water, electricity. They cannot attend school. They have no access to healthcare, and they don't even know where their next meal is coming from. No child deserves to grow up living under these conditions...

"I formed the Brandt Beauty Foundation to break the cycle of poverty among these families and these little girls and to give them opportunities to rewrite their dreams."

She told judges she had distributed sanitary products, a hydroponics system and a solar energy panel to a family without electricity, and hosted empowerment sessions for girls.

In the face of criticism, the Miss World TT organisation shot, "It is disheartening to witness the mass of disparaging comments being spewed against one of our own nationals and her efforts to represent our country whilst giving back to our society through her humanitarian journey."

The organisation said Brandt had travelled to Puerto Rico and competed in different activities to bring some much-needed positivity to TT, and in doing so had contracted covid19 and faced a postponement of the pageant.

It reaffirmed its support for the "hard-working and dedicated" Brandt who remained committed to helping the less fortunate.

"It was not the intention of Miss Brandt to offend anyone with her statements and it is unfortunate that the nature of the video and its contents may have been misunderstood."

The organisation asked people to support Brandt in the pageant now set for March 16.

The statement said Brandt's presentation "was not used for Miss Trinidad and Tobago to describe the country, but rather some of the humanitarian issues we face not only as a nation but worldwide."

Saying she had also produced tourism videos highlighting the beauty of TT's people, cultures, arts and festivals, the organisation said, "Her statements, therefore, were in no way the only portrayal of our beautiful twin island republic."

It added, "Miss Brandt's statements regarding the conditions faced by children are reflective of the vulnerable groups with whom she has been working with for the past two years."

Brandt earlier issued a statement to say she had meant no offence by her pageant remarks.

"I can and have attested to all the beauty our nation has to offer. However, in this (instance) I was asked to present on a societal issue I was passionate and purposed about."

Brandt said she had worked assiduously over the past two years to help underprivileged communities through her NGO, the Brandt Beauty Foundation.

"My intention was never to portray our twin-island nation in a negative light or to bring ill repute to the Miss World Trinidad and Tobago franchise."