Damarea Liao, a Nigerian-Japanese model who was meant to represent Nigeria in Miss Africa resigned after a conflict with American socialite Kim Kardashian. The conflict was prompted by a comment made by Liao on Kardashian’s rise to fame.
She took to Instagram and said, “Are we going to pretend that Kim K isn’t an ‘adult film’ star gone famous?” Sources say that the conflict between the two began after Liao refused to be managed by Kardashian following the announcement of a new reality show, ‘Life of Crowns’ to be produced by Ryan Seacrest.
Seacrest suggested the idea of Kardashian managing Liao, as he also produced ‘The Kardashians’ and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ that ended back in 2021. Liao refused this offer due to the fear of putting out a “false image” of who she was, according to a source.
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Kardashian unfollowed Liao after the comment, leaving Liao with a 5,000 follower loss. Liao then began facing backlash from her followers and fans of Kardashian which pushed a bad light on the title she held. It was then revealed that the organization of Miss Africa held guidelines and rules that were to be followed to keep the status quo. Her comment was seen as a violation of ‘cyber-bullying’ rules.
At the end of June, Liao took to Instagram to apologize for her comment, the impact it had on her career, and the reflection of it on Miss Africa. “Recently, I made a comment about a very influential figure in Hollywood. I want to apologize for the comment I made out of anger and ego. This is not how I wish to be viewed by society. I am a role model to many young women and girls who see this position as a representation of how they should behave, and who they should strive to be.”
“I wasn’t brought up to speak negatively about the people around me, regardless of what I believe or feel in the moment. In order to be a role model to the world watching, I feel it is only right to give the crown to a woman who will do right by the people and Nigeria as a whole,” said Liao, who identifies as ‘Afro-Asian,’ due to her background that includes Japanese, Ghanaian, and Nigerian roots.
“The time I am taking away from pageantry, will allow me to understand the consequences of my actions, and the impact that it has on others. Thank you for this time I have spent meeting so many people and making memories in such a prestigious position.”
Liao joined the pageant industry in October of last year, when she was advanced to Miss South Carolina, USA, becoming the first Nigerian to take on the position. She dropped from the competition in December, following a statement citing ‘mental health’ as her reason for passing the crown to Destiny Suber, who went on to represent in Miss South Carolina USA.
The resignation came just before Miss USA and Miss USA Teen resigned for the same reasons. Kardashian has since been asked about the incident, but no comment regarding the recent conflict has been made from her. Liao recently cleared her Instagram profile of all of her photos, leaving only two that are related to her recent projects.
In a recent comment, Liao said “It’s okay for me to start over. Whatever this mistake does to my career is fine. Starting over isn’t an issue, I’ve done it before. More people were paying attention to me than I realized, and I’d forgotten that what I could do before I can’t do anymore. I thought maybe, it would just blow over, without thinking of the consequences of my actions. Now, I know. I realized it was serious, when I was dropped from many brands and opportunities. I’ve burnt a lot of bridges, but I’ve reached out to Kim to apologize. I know that it’s not being taken well.”
