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Former Head Of Miss Venezuela Pageant, With Miami Ties, Accused Of Pimping Contestants

Osmel Sousa appeared on Univision's morning show, Despierta América, and discussed allegations that Miss Venezuela contestants were pressured into sex."

The former head of the Miss Venezuela contest—who had ties to pageant-style television programming in Miami—has been accused of pimping out pageant contestants.

Osmel Sousa ran the Miss Venezuela pageant for nearly four decades. But he stepped down in February.

A story in the Sunday New York Times outlined allegations from former pageant contestants that, “Sousa or his assistants pressured them to act as escorts or concubines for politicians and businessmen in exchange for money to finance their pageant runs. Mr. Sousa has also been accused of being paid by the men for his role in arranging these transactions.”

Sousa has denied the allegations. He told Despierta América, Univision’s morning show, that he was the victim of a smear campaign over competing cable interests:

Until two years ago, Sousa was a judge for Nuestra Belleza Latina—Univision’s Miami-based pageant-style reality show.

Univision did not respond to multiple questions from WLRN asking if the network was investigating whether there was any harassment or illegal behavior while Sousa was working with Univision.

Univision did email a statement:

“Osmel Sousa is no longer affiliated with Nuestra Belleza Latina, the reality program produced by and aired on Univision Network, because his profile does not match the new editorial direction of the show.  The 2018 edition of NBL will feature women competing to break through society’s stereotypes of beauty.  Mr. Sousa has not been affiliated with NBL for two years.”

WLRN Reporter Daniel Rivero contributed reporting to this story.

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