Mekyla Li #

Introduction #

Mekyla Li is an American model and motivational speaker who won the Miss Grand USA 2026 pageant on Aug. 10, 2026, and was stripped of the national title on Aug. 19, 2026 — roughly a week after her crowning. The organization announced the termination of her reign in a brief statement that cited its contractual policies but gave no reason, and neither the pageant nor Li has publicly explained the decision. Reporting by PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly, drawing on court and divorce records, tied the revocation to two apparent conflicts with the pageant’s eligibility rules: Li’s marriage from 2018 to 2019 and her role as a defendant in criminal and civil proceedings over an alleged November 2024 hit-and-run, in which she has pleaded not guilty and has not been convicted.

Background Information #

Li, 27, was born to Chinese and South African parents and, according to her website, was raised “across three continents.” Before Miss Grand USA, she held the titles of Miss Grand Massachusetts 2026 and Miss Asia USA 2025, per her LinkedIn.

The Miss Grand USA organization lays out nine criteria for contestants. Under “Marital Status,” contestants “cannot be or have been married or pregnant,” and under “Moral Integrity,” they “must have a clean personal record with no criminal history,” according to Entertainment Weekly.

Divorce records obtained by PEOPLE show that Li was married to Danny Ray Bedwell from Aug. 9, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2019, with the divorce citing irreconcilable differences — a status that appears inconsistent with the pageant’s marital-status rule.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Documented outcome vs. unproven allegations. The termination of Li’s Miss Grand USA title on Aug. 19, 2026 is a documented action by the pageant organization. The criminal and civil matters described below are unproven allegations: Li faces charges to which she has pleaded not guilty, has not been tried on them, and is presumed innocent; the civil claims are allegations in a pending complaint.

Per court records viewed by PEOPLE, Li was arrested on Nov. 24, 2024, and faces two felony hit-and-run charges — one for causing non-serious injury and one for causing permanent serious injury. She pleaded not guilty to both counts at her arraignment on March 19.

Li and a man named Michael Scobey are also named as defendants in a civil complaint filed in March that seeks damages for negligence, hit-and-run, intoxicated driving and reckless driving tied to the alleged November 2024 incident. The complaint alleges that the pair’s vehicle swerved into oncoming traffic while driving on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and collided with a car driven by plaintiff Anna Mercedes Aoun, who claims she suffered “catastrophic injuries,” including “some permanent disability” and the loss of “future income.” Aoun further alleges that neither Li nor Scobey called for emergency services and that the two instead “fled the scene” in a rideshare vehicle.

Taken together, the pending felony case conflicts with the requirement of “a clean personal record with no criminal history,” and the 2018-2019 marriage conflicts with the marital-status rule — the two apparent eligibility violations that surfaced in the days after her win.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

On Aug. 19, Miss Grand USA announced on Instagram: “Miss Grand USA announces the termination of Mekyla Li’s reign and her release from the Miss Grand USA Title and all associated duties,” adding that the decision “was made in accordance with contractual policies outlined by the Miss Grand USA organization.” The statement did not name a reason. PEOPLE reported that Li, her attorney and the organization did not return its request for comment, and Entertainment Weekly likewise did not hear back from representatives for either party.

The revocation came as Li was publicly celebrating her win. In an interview with Edgar Entertainment after the pageant, she said, “I feel so excited but I’m also already thinking about the journey ahead,” and said she planned to take the Miss Grand International stage in India “full force.” On Aug. 18, the day before the announcement, she described the win as “surreal” and an “unforgettable night” in an Instagram post, writing, “A week into this reign, and I’m still taking it all in. But now, the dreaming becomes doing.”

Current Status #

Li’s termination stands, and a successor, Victoria Oluwakotanmi, has since been crowned Miss Grand USA. As of the August 2026 reporting, the felony charges remained pending, and Aoun has requested a jury trial in the civil case, seeking damages including past and future medical expenses, property damage and lost earnings. Neither Li nor the organization has publicly disclosed the reason for the title removal.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Li lost the national crown, its associated duties and the international stage she had prepared for — a reign that ended before she could compete at Miss Grand International in India, and one she had celebrated with the words “the dreaming becomes doing.” The underlying criminal and civil proceedings remained unresolved, and Li has not publicly commented on the loss of the title.