Samantha Katie James (born 2 November 1994) is a Malaysian- Brazilian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Universe Malaysia 2017 Miss Universe Malaysia 2017, the 51st edition of the Miss Universe Malaysia, was held on 23 February 2017 at the Majestic Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Samantha James of Kuala Lumpur of was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Kiran Jassal of Selangor at ...

. She represented her country in Miss Universe 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Personal life

Samantha Katie James is of Brazilian and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

descent, who hails from Klang, Selangor. James has never met her biological father, and her biological mother left her in a foster care from the age of 2 to 17. She has worked as a model since the age of 17. James speaks fluent English and

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, and she also understands

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and Mandarin Chinese. She is a

pescatarian Pescetarianism (; sometimes spelled pescatarianism) is the practice of incorporating seafood into an otherwise vegetarian diet. Pescetarians may or may not consume other animal products such as eggs and dairy products. Approximately 3% of adul ...

Career

Acting

She was one of the main actors for Indonesian-Malaysian horror movie, "Kastil Tua" (2015) based on old abandoned Kellie's Castle. She also played a role in an upcoming Chinese international movie, "Huang", where she spoke fluent Chinese. In 2017, she acted in a Malaysian telemovie, "Wanita Terindah" along

Fattah Amin Abdul Fattah bin Mohd Amin (born 14 September 1990) is a Malaysian actor and singer. He is known for playing as Adrian, the main character in the drama ''Playboy Itu Suami Aku''. After his debut performance was criticized for lack of inventory a ...

and

Fazura Nur Fazura Binti Sharifuddin (born 27 September 1983), better known as Fazura, is a Malaysian actress, singer, television Host, VJ and entrepreneur. She began her career in the Malaysian entertainment industry by hosting a television show a ...

. The telemovie premiered at GSC Pavilion Kuala Lumpur and was aired on

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

First Channel beginning 2 November 2017.

Controversy

On 1 June 2020, she was criticized for posting a story on her Instagram account targeted towards the Black Lives Matter movement and black community as a whole. It was suggested that they should see the murder of George Floyd as a challenge, and that they chose to be born in the United States as coloured people, in order "to learn a certain lesson". On the same day, a petition calling for the

Miss Universe Malaysia Miss Universe Malaysia is an annual national beauty pageant that selects Malaysia's representative to the annual Miss Universe contest. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age or any other reason), a runner-up is sent. Histo ...

committee to strip her off her crown and title garnered 21,000 signatures. Miss Universe Malaysia disavowed her comments. Her account on Instagram quickly became unverified following the controversy. However, the check mark reappeared after a few days. On 24 August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, she insisted on not wearing face coverings except when "undercover around annoying people", whilst further commenting on the use of face masks; remarking "I will never wear that f****ng diaper on my face."

Pageantry

Miss Universe Malaysia 2013

James competed in

Miss Universe Malaysia 2013 Miss Universe Malaysia 2013, the 47th edition of the Miss Universe Malaysia, was held on 10 December 2012 at Shah Alam, Selangor. Carey Ng of Putrajaya was crowned by the outgoing titleholder, Kimberley Leggett of Penang at the end of the event. S ...

, and was placed in the top 8.

Miss Universe Malaysia 2017

On her second attempt James was crowned as Miss Universe Malaysia 2017 on February 23, 2017 at The Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. She was crowned by outgoing titleholder

Kiran Jassal Kiranmeet Kaur Jassal ( pa, ਕਿਰਨ ਜੱਸਲ, Kirana jasala; born 13 March 1996), commonly known as Kiran Jassal, is a Malaysian Indian model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Universe Malaysia 2016. She represented h ...

Miss Universe 2017

James competed in the Miss Universe 2017 Pageant at Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. She was considered one of the fan favorites to win, but she failed to make a placement.

Filmography

Film

Telemovie

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Samantha Katie Malaysian beauty pageant winners Malaysian female models Living people 1994 births Models from Kuala Lumpur Miss Universe 2017 contestants Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Brazilian descent Miss Universe Malaysia People from Selangor Malaysian actresses Racism in Malaysia