While most of the world has gotten past the international incident Steve Harvey started at last year’s Miss Universe pageant, the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is struggling to forgive and forget. The incident in question occurred when Harvey, the pageant’s host, incorrectly announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner and Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, as first runner-up, when the real results were actually the other way around. It was Harvey’s first time hosting, and when the 2016 pageant is held in the Philippines in January, Duterte doesn’t want Harvey to have a second. The country’s tourism secretary, Wanda Teo, revealed Duterte’s objections in a press conference on Thursday, reportedly saying: “He cannot host. I am going to talk to the Miss Universe that he cannot host so that is my problem … I don’t want him to be the host of the Miss Universe.” While Duterte’s executive powers don’t quite have the reach to override Harvey’s five-year contract, a potential rapprochement may have been found. “So the President will not get mad, we may add a Filipina to co-host,” said Teo. Because Miss Universe is about nothing if not peace in our time.
