The Miss Universe contestant from the Philippines is this year's winner, but for a few minutes, it appeared as if it might be a repeat win for Colombia.
Colombia contestant Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo was already wearing the crown as this year's winner in Las Vegas when host Steve Harvey returned to apologize.
Harvey says it was his mistake and that he would take responsibility for misreading the card that correctly named contestant Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach as this year's winner, and Colombia as first runner-up.
A mystified Wurtzbach appeared stunned as she walked to the front of the stage alongside the crown-wearing Arevalo before last year's Miss Universe from Colombia, Paulina Vega, removed the crown and placed it on Wurtzbach's head instead.
"I will take responsibility for this," Harvey said. "It was my mistake. It was on the card. Horrible mistake."
He also took to Twitter after the East Coast broadcast to apologize again.
I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia & Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible.
— @IAmSteveHarvey
The high-profile flub made Harvey the latest target of the internet, with the incident and the comedian-actor instantly mocked via social media.
Feel bad for Steve, but the internet is funny today. #MissUniverse2015 pic.twitter.com/zVtSXHSMyw
— @JohnPFelts
Man! If only @IAmSteveHarvey had been the announcer for #AmericanIdol back in 2003. I could have won! #missuniverse
— @clayaiken
lolz 😂😂👍🏻 #MissUniverse2015 pic.twitter.com/89Td28mJru
— @jackryan93Q
#GraphicDesign: It's a thing professionals do, and it's still critically important. #MissUniverse2015 pic.twitter.com/4Zl10zkwTb
— @AlxRodz
Some, however, have speculated that the entire mix-up was actually planned to fuel post-ceremony discussion about the pageant.
In defense of @IAmSteveHarvey, nobody has talked this much about #MissUniverse in decades.
— @morningmoneyben
Miss Universe needed viewers... What a better way than to have a stunt like this to circulate conversation
— @tydalbright
Contestants from Australia, France and the United States rounded out the final five. Canada's entrant was Paola Nunez of Toronto.
The competition started with women between the ages of 19 and 27 representing 80 countries. For the first time, viewers at home weighed in, with their votes being tallied in addition to four in-person celebrity judges.
The pageant was taking place without the participation of Donald Trump, who claimed early Monday that under his watch, an incident like this "would never have happened!"
Very sad what happened last night at the Miss Universe Pageant. I sold it 6 months ago for a record price. This would never have happened!
— @realDonaldTrump
NBCUniversal and Donald Trump co-owned the Miss Universe Organization until earlier this year. The real-estate developer offended Hispanics in June when he made anti-immigrant remarks in announcing his Republican presidential run.
That led Spanish-language network Univision to pull out of the broadcast for what would have been the first of five years airing the pageants and NBC to cut business ties with Trump.
The former star of the Celebrity Apprentice reality show sued both companies, settling with NBC in September, which included buying the network's stake in the pageants.
That same month, Trump sold the organization that includes the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants to entertainment company WME-IMG.
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