Raul Rocha, the president of Miss Universe Organization, released a video on Wednesday (Nov 5) condemning the actions of Nawat Itsaragrisil, director of Miss Universe Thailand, who was seen reprimanding Miss Universe contestants during a livestream on Tuesday.

About 13 minutes into the livestream, Itsaragrisil – who also serves as vice president for Asia and Oceania within Miss Universe Organization, as well as president of Miss Grand International – publicly called out Fatima Bosch, Miss Universe Mexico, for not posting promotional materials of Thailand.

Itsaragrisil claimed that, according to reports received from his staff, the director of Miss Universe Mexico had instructed Bosch not to post content related to Thailand, the host country of this year’s Miss Universe pageant.

Bosch responded, saying that it was a misunderstanding and clarified her stance.

Itsaragrisil then interrupted her, asking: “My question is, ‘Can you follow our steps or not?’ You can post or not? You can work to promote Thailand or not? Yes or no?”

After Bosch replied ‘yes’, Itsaragrisil told her to sit down.

Minutes later, Itsaragrisil claimed that the police had “kicked out the director of Miss Universe Mexico from the country”. Addressing Bosch, Itsaragrisil added: “If you follow the order from your national director, you’re a dumb head.”

Itsaragrisil then proceeded to continue reprimanding the Miss Universe contestants. However, Bosch then stood up and called out Itsaragrisil for his behaviour, to which he summoned the security team – drawing gasps from the other contestants.

As Bosch left the room, she told Itsaragrisil: “I’m here representing my country and it’s not my fault that you have problems with my organisation.”

Following the exchange, other Miss Universe contestants, including Miss Universe Canada, Miss Universe Armenia and Miss Universe Palestine, were seen standing up and walking out.

“If anyone [wants to] continue [taking part in] the contest, sit down,” said Itsaragrisil. “If you step out, the rest of the girls will continue.”

Bosch later took to her social media pages, saying that Itsaragrisil’s remarks were “disrespectful”.

“I believe the world needs to hear and see this, because we are all empowered women,” wrote Bosch, adding that “if something costs you your dignity, you need to walk away.”

As of writing, the entire livestream can still be viewed on Miss Universe Thailand’s Facebook page.

In response to the incident, Raul Rocha has announced that he has restricted Itsaragrisil’s participation in events related to this year’s Miss Universe competition by “limiting it as much as possible or eliminating it completely”.

Rocha also revealed that he has deployed a delegation of executives from Miss Universe Organization, as well as diplomatic experts, to Thailand to “take control” of this year’s Miss Universe pageant.

Rocha added that he had trusted Miss Grand International with the event and “that trust has failed”.

Also weighing in on the recent events is Annika Sager, Miss Universe Singapore 2025, who took to Instagram on Wednesday to say: “In a world where women continue to strive for equality and recognition, we must insist on environments built on mutual respect, where our voices matter as much as our presence.

“We deserve to be uplifted, not undermined. We deserve the freedom to express our convictions with integrity and compassion.”

Miss Universe 2025 is set to take place on Nov 21.

Source: CNA

- Agencies