Emily Smith stepped down as Miss International Guam following backlash from Guam residents who questioned how someone with no connection to the island could represent the territory on an international stage.
“I have made the personal decision to step down from the title,” Smith told the Pacific Daily News. “I have also been reading the comments and truly listening to the people of Guam and also those with roots to Guam…If you know anyone who would like to represent this title, please feel free to reach out to JDP, our pageant organizer.”
JDP Pageants appointed her to represent Guam, she said.
Looking back, Smith said she should have reconsidered accepting the title.
“I feel naive for accepting it under those circumstances. I should have paused and thought more deeply about what it truly means to represent a place, especially one with a rich culture, history, and identity like Guam,” she said. “A title is not something to simply take because it is available.”
She closed her statement with an apology.
“It represents real people, real heritage, and real pride. If my acceptance of the title caused hurt, offense, or made anyone feel overlooked or disrespected, I am deeply sorry,” she said.
JDP Pageants, the national license holder for the Miss International competition on Guam, later issued a statement addressing the backlash.
“We understand and respect that representation is something the Guam community cares deeply about. Our goal has always been to celebrate Guam’s culture and highlight the island in a positive and respectful way through the Miss International platform,” the organization said.
Broader questions
The controversy spread quickly online after residents learned Smith, who has roots in Okinawa and Wales, had never been to Guam and had no family or cultural ties to Guam.
It raised broader questions about who has the authority to represent Guam in international competitions.
Cyndal Abad, a Guam Community College instructor and former Miss Guam representative, raised questions about the selection after learning that a beauty pageant contestant without ties to Guam had been chosen through an overseas pageant organization not affiliated with the island.
“My initial reaction was that this is really disrespectful. It’s dishonorable and it’s offensive to our people of our island who deserve a say on who gets to represent us,” Abad said.
Abad said she first learned about the appointment when people began sending her messages, asking whether Guam had returned to the international pageant scene.
People later told Abad the contestant had never visited Guam and had no cultural connection to the island.
“That’s when I did reach out to them, and, you know, we have had private messages, but I decided that this was a public conversation to be had because they were still proceeding with sending the representative after I had informed them through the comments the concerns about that,” Abad said.
Abad posted a video on her social media page addressing the situation, which gained widespread attention.
“Honestly, I’m blown away. I wasn’t expecting it to get as much engagement as it did,” she said.
She said the response reflected how strongly residents feel about who represents Guam.
“Their opinion, people who have been part of the beauty industry here on Guam, those who may not have heard it, but they love Guam. They want to fight for our island, and so we’re all on the same page there,” she said.
Smith responds to comments
Smith, meanwhile, posted a public statement on social media confirming her resignation, shortly after speaking with the PDN.
“First and foremost, I want to make this announcement very clear when I say, I have officially stepped down as Miss International Guam,” she wrote.
She said she had consulted with the Miss International organization before making the decision.
“After a conversation with the official Miss International organization, I was advised to continue my journey as Miss International Guam. However, I cannot in good faith continue this journey and will not be competing at the Miss International competition,” she said. “I also want to share my story and directly answer some of the comments I have been receiving as I was advised to not reply. However, now that I am no longer representing Guam, I can respond to these statements.”
Smith said she originally entered the pageant expecting to represent Wales. She said her director had informed her she would be representing Wales as Miss International Wales, and that she, as a Welsh native with family there, would need to travel to Wales to create the required submission videos for the Miss International pageant.
She said she fully prepared herself for that opportunity and had begun thinking about national costume designs.
Two days later, Smith said the plan changed. She received a text message explaining that the Wales title would no longer proceed and that the international pageant organization, Miss International, would instead be granting her director the title of Guam, reportedly because Wales was not considered a territory within their system.
Smith said her director attempted to recruit candidates from Guam before offering the title to her.
“Following that decision, my director held a casting call and later told me as well as publicly made statements mentioning that she had reached out to individuals in Guam but did not receive responses,” Smith said. “She then offered me the title of Guam over the phone. During that conversation, I shared that I had originally hoped to represent Wales, and she shared the same belief. However, after this phone call, I decided to represent Guam and booked my trips to go to Guam to volunteer in the middle of April and last week of May, immerse myself in the culture, and meet with officials.”
JDP Pageants said it plans to work with organizations on Guam to ensure authentic representation.
“Moving forward, our team is currently reaching out to organizations in Guam, including the Guam Visitors Bureau, with the hope of collaborating and ensuring that Guam is represented in a way that reflects the island’s culture, identity, and community with authenticity.”
Public response
Abad said Smith’s resignation demonstrates the power of public response.
“I appreciate that she made the statement. I appreciate even more that she stepped down. I do, I firmly believe that is because of the backlash she received,” she said.
Abad said pageants remain one of the few arenas where Guam competes under its own identity.
“There are very few spaces left in which Guam can represent itself under Guam as our own country, right? Politically? Yes, we are a U.S. territory. We know that but in spaces like sports or beauty pageants, that is one of the last platforms left for us to wear Guam proudly on our hearts,” Abad said. “To have outsiders take this and reap the benefits of using our name, I just think that it’s gone.”
Janae Aguon, a development coordinator at a nonprofit and creative director of Pitbull Empire, a local pageantry and modeling organization, said she first learned about Smith’s appointment only after Abad raised concerns online.
“I gotta thank Cyndal for bringing that to my attention,” Aguon said. “I knew there was a Miss Guam. I didn’t know that she wasn’t from Guam.”
After reviewing Smith’s profile, Aguon said concerns quickly replaced initial excitement.
“She did say that she wanted to come to Guam in April or May to learn more about the island or to research. But for me, I felt like that was an afterthought,” she said.
Aguon said the responsibility for the misstep lies with the organizers who crowned Smith, noting they misled and misinformed her about representing Guam.
While acknowledging Smith’s apology, Aguon added that Smith should have understood the region before accepting the title.
“If you’re going to represent a region, you should have some kind, region, or know something about the region before accepting the appointment,” she said.
Aguon said organizers appeared to assume Guam fell under a United States franchise license.
“If that was the case, then why does Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have their own separate franchise away from the U.S. franchise?,” she said, believing the situation revealed a lack of research. “It felt like that they were not researching, and they just thought, like, hey, you know what? It’s just Guam whatever. Let’s just do it.”
The organization briefly posted an apology statement before removing it.
“You set an apology, you own accountability, and now that accountability is no longer posted,” Janae said. “I think that they feel embarrassed for that oversight and not and thinking that it was going to go over smoothly.”
Aguon also criticized the pageant organization’s push for Smith to continue despite the scrutiny, saying their priorities were driven by profit.
“That tells me that money is the bottom line,” she said. “Money has always been their bottom line, and that’s why they want her to continue. I don’t know for me, I wouldn’t want to be part of the organization that would want to continue misrepresentation just to be able to make money.”
