No, Miss Universe 2022 R’Bonney Gabriel did not resign as Miss USA.

While it is true that R’Bonney has passed on the Miss USA crown to runner-up Morgan Romano, it does not equate to resigning the position.

R’Bonney is a fashion designer who hails from Houston, Texas and proudly celebrates her Filipino-American heritage.

"My dad moved to America from the Philippines on a college scholarship with about $20 in his pocket. He wanted to pave a new life for himself. He met my mom in Texas, who is a country woman from Beaumont,” she candidly shared in an interview. “I'm a very proud Filipina Texan.”

R’Bonney is the first Asian-American to win the title of Miss Texas USA. Last October 3, 2022, she went on to win the national title of Miss USA in Reno, Nevada.

READ: Fil-Am beauty queen wins Miss USA pageant

However, her Miss USA win was subject to controversy as allegations of her win being rigged surfaced. A number of Miss USA contestants alleged that there was favoritism on the part of Crystle Stewart, the director of the national pageant, which led to R’Bonney allegedly receiving an advantage over the others. While no proof of this ever came to light, Crystle still had to resign her position.

With R’Bonney passing on her Miss USA crown to Morgan, who represented the state of North Carolina and was the runner-up, some claimed that this meant she had to resign her position in connection to the controversy.

The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) debunked this insinuation and clarified that this has really been the practice for years.

In 1995, Chelsi Smith was crowned Miss Universe and Shanna Moakler took over her Miss USA duties. The same thing happened in 1997, when Miss Universe Brooke Lee turned over her duties to Brandi Sherwood. Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo likewise passed on her Miss USA duties to Nana Meriweather.

Since R’Bonney won the international beauty pageant and now holds the title of Miss Universe 2022, it was expected that she would pass on the Miss USA title to her runner-up and her reign be completed by Morgan. This does not mean that R’Bonney’s win was void, though.

READ: Filipino-American R'Bonney Gabriel is the new Miss Universe

R’Bonney officially crowned Morgan as Miss USA during the preliminary competition of Miss Alabama USA and Miss Alabama Teen USA pageants. While it isn’t usually the practice to have the passing on of the title done with such pomp and circumstance, MUO maintains that there is nothing unusual with the actual transferring of the title of Miss USA by a reigning Miss Universe.  

MUO explained that it is part of the rules of the organization that whoever wins the title of Miss Universe has to rescind the national title to a successor. This is done so that the newly-crowned Miss Universe can fully focus on her new set of responsibilities.

While this does not mean that Morgan will be the country’s representative in competing in the 2023 Miss Universe pageant, as now-Miss USA, Morgan will be fulfilling the duties of Miss USA for the remainder of the current reign.