Asya Branch, the first Black Miss Mississippi to win the Miss USA crown, will compete for the title of Miss Universe today. The 69th Miss Universe competition will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Fla. The event will air live on Fox beginning at 7 p.m. CDT. The Clarion Ledger reports that Branch, a Booneville, Miss., native, made history in November when she became the first Mississippi representative to win Miss USA. In 2019, she also was the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Mississippi USA. “I was so honored to have made history, but at the same time, I thought, ‘Wow … we’re still having firsts,’” Branch told the newspaper. Branch, who also represented Mississippi in the separate Miss America pageant in 2018, has used the platform to talk about criminal-justice reform. The issue is personal to her. Branch’s father was in prison for 10 years while Branch was growing up. “It’s really an honor to be able to set this example for young girls to know that they don’t have to look like the person that came before them in order to accomplish their goal,” she said. Branch will compete against 89 other hopefuls in this year’s competition. If Branch wins, she would be the first Mississippian to ever hold the title and the first Miss USA to win the competition since 2012.
Prince Harry said during a Thursday episode of the “Armchair Ex p e r t ” podcast that he contemplated quitting royal life on several occasions while in his 20s. He spoke candidly with host Dax Shepard about keeping his relationship with Meghan a secret and dealing with the U.K. media scrutiny. Harry thought his life was like the 1998 Jim Carrey film “The Truman Show.” The film tells a story about Truman Burbank’s life being televised through hidden cameras while encountering people who were hired actors. Harry said it was a heavy burden and he struggled to deal with being a member of the royal family. He feared that his pregnant wife and son, Archie, would have to deal with the spotlight the same way his late mother, Princess Diana, had to deal with the enormous attention. In 1997, Diana died in a car crash at age 36 in Paris while being pursued by paparazzi. “I don’t want this job, I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mum,” the 36-year-old Harry said. The Duke of Sussex said he feels more liberated after he and his family moved to California.