A Miss Universe executive berated a contestant at an event before the pageant, causing a stir and ill feelings among contestants.
Keep reading to know more.
The official Miss Universe page is set to take place later this month, but the preparations for the big night are already in full swing.
Nawat Itsaragrisil, an executive associated with the pageant, addressed the women earlier this week in a speech that was live-streamed on the official Miss Universe Facebook page.
However, things became tense when Itsaragrisil zeroed in on Miss Mexico and began berating her in front of all her peers.
Fátima Bosch is participating in this year’s pageant, and she reportedly failed to take part in a photoshoot that the contestants were supposed to promote on their social media. The shoot was about promoting Thailand.
In the speech, Itsaragrisil alleges that Bosch did not participate in the shoot on orders of her country’s pageant director.
Bosch allegedly denied this, during which Itsaragrisil apparently interrupted her and asked her to confirm whether she plans on posting about Thailand on her social media accounts.
At one point in the speech, Itsaragrisil calls Bosch a ‘dummy,’ which upset other contestants in the room.
While Bosch was berated by him, she stood her ground and waited for her turn to speak. Because of this, Itsaragrisil said, “I still keep talking to everybody, why you still stand up to talk to me?”
“Because I have a voice,” the Mexican contestant responded. She added, “You are not respecting me as a woman.”
After the two went back and forth for a few minutes, Itsaragrisil called for security, and the other women in the room responded with a ‘no’ in disagreement.
As she left the room, Itsaragrisil said as a parting comment, “As women, you need to show respect for us. I’m here representing a country and it’s not my fault that you have problems with my organization.”
A few other contestants followed Bosch out. This included the current Miss Universe, Victoria Kjær Theilvig, who is believed to have left as well.
A handful of contestants then got to their feet and followed Bosch out. The current Miss Universe, Victoria Kjær Theilvig, is believed to have been among those who chose to leave.
However, Itsaragrisil urged them to stop and told them if they wanted to continue in the contest, they should sit down.
Miss Bonaire then speaks and asks Itsaragrisil to bring Miss Mexico back.
“We can fix this. We can bring her back,” she is heard saying, in a bid to keep the peace. “We’re having such a great time in Thailand. This is such a great place. You’re doing everything right. Let’s get her to come back.”
Itsaragrisil has since issued an apology on social media about the incident.
He said in a video posted: “If anyone [was] feeling not good, if anyone [was] not comfortable. If anyone [was affected], I do apologize for everyone.”
He also added that he apologized to the women in the room at the time of the incident as well.
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