Rima Fakih

Fakih first began competing in pageantry at age 19, when she placed as the fourth runner-up at Miss Wayne County, a qualifying pageant for Miss Michigan within the Miss America system. She went on to compete in three minor international pageants.[11]

In 2008, Fakih was selected to represent Michigan in the Miss Lebanon Emigrant pageant.[4] The pageant was meant for women belonging to the international Lebanese diaspora, with the winner going on to compete in Miss Lebanon.[12] Fakih placed as the second runner-up in the competition, behind winner Carina El Kaddissi of Brazil and first runner-up Jessica Kahawaty of Australia.[13]

In 2009, Fakih won the Miss Michigan USA 2010 title on her first attempt. As Miss Michigan USA, she received the right to represent Michigan at Miss USA 2010. The Miss USA competition was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts within Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in Las Vegas on May 16, 2010. After competing in the preliminary competition, Fakih was selected as one of the fifteen semifinalists. She later advanced to the top ten and top five, until being crowned the winner, besting first runner-up Morgan Woolard of Oklahoma; her win ended a five-year streak of southern states winning the title. Following her win, Fakih became the third woman representing Michigan to win the Miss USA title, and is believed to be the first Lebanese American, Arab American, and Muslim American, although pageant officials have stated that their records are not detailed enough to confirm this.[5][14]

During and after the Miss USA competition, Fakih's background, religious beliefs, and Arab identity became the subject of media attention and discussion. Regarding her identity, Fakih stated "I'd like to say I'm American first, and I am an Arab-American, I am Lebanese-American, and I am Muslim-American."[15] While her victory was celebrated by some in the Arab American community, she was also criticized by some amidst allegations that she did not properly represent Muslims.[6] Iranian-Canadian Islamic scholar Ghazal Omid wrote "To say that she is a Muslim is inaccurate. No Muslim woman can call herself a Muslim and be on stage with her bikini."[16] In response to criticism from some within the Muslim community, Fakih stated that while she and her family identify as Muslims and respect the religion, they are not as strict as others and do not define themselves by their religion, adding that they view themselves as more "spiritual" than "religious."[17][18] Her religion and role in pageantry was further scrutinized after it emerged that Fakih had taken part in a "Stripper 101" competition hosted by Detroit morning show Mojo in the Morning, where she pole danced.[19][20][21]

As Miss USA, Fakih received the right to represent the United States at Miss Universe 2010. The Miss Universe competition was later held on August 23, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Fakih was not selected as one of the fifteen semifinalists, becoming the first American entrant to fail to place in the competition since Shauntay Hinton at Miss Universe 2002, and only the fourth ever.[22][23] Fakih later completed her reign as Miss USA on June 19, 2011, after crowning Alyssa Campanella of California as her successor at Miss USA 2011.[24]

In 2018, Fakih received the license for the Miss Universe Lebanon competition, becoming the organization's national director. She organized the Miss Universe Lebanon 2018 competition, which crowned Maya Reaidy as its winner, who went on to represent Lebanon at Miss Universe 2018.[25][26][27] The 2019 edition of the competition was later canceled due to the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, while the 2020 edition was never scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon.[28]