Miss Universe contestants walk out after organiser berates Miss Mexico
Miss Universe contestants walk out after organiser berates Miss Mexico
Video caption, Watch: Miss Universe contestants walk out of briefing after organiser calls Miss Mexico 'dumbhead'
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy40q990g28o.amp
Author, Ian Aikman Role, 5 November 2025
Several contestants have walked out of a Miss Universe event after an official from host nation Thailand publicly berated Miss Mexico in a tense confrontation.
At a pre-pageant ceremony, Miss Universe Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil told off Fatima Bosch in front of dozens of contestants for failing to post promotional content.
When she objected, Mr Nawat called security and threatened to disqualify those supporting her. Ms Bosch then left the room and others joined her in solidarity.
Video of the incident, which was live streamed, has been shared online. The Miss Universe Organisation (MUO) has condemned Mr Nawat's "malicious" behaviour, for which he has since apologised.
The Miss Universe contestants, who are the winners of national pageants in their home countries, attended Tuesday's event in their sashes and gowns..............
Link to tweet
mwmisses4289
(2,872 posts)In this case, an apology isn't enough.
Doodley
(11,547 posts)others, whether he is calling a black woman low IQ, a Muslim politician communist, attacking trans people, immigrants or blaming DEI on a plane crash, Republican lawmakers should do the decent thing and call him out or walk out, but there isn't one decent Republican lawmaker in the nation. Each and every one of them is a spineless bigot and less than these women.
NJCher
(42,087 posts)I once started a job where the head of the office belittled a person in front of around 20 others.
I took out my company car keys and thrust them down the table, saying who wants to give me a ride home? I then said I wasnt working for a company that treated employees like this.
It was later pointed out to me by another employee that I should have just taken the car home and told them to pick it up.
Paladin
(32,084 posts)What was that Nawat asshole thinking? "This'll get me a Medal of Freedom from trump, for sure"???
PJMcK
(24,492 posts)These events in part meant to empower women, in part to exploit them are antiquated and antithetical in the 21st century. Good for Miss Mexico and her supporters for their strength.
In any event, this pageant official is a chauvinist asshole and a terrible manager. His misogyny is obvious and a good manager never admonishes a subordinate publicly. Its insulting, shows poor management skills and demoralizes the staff.
These pageants should be retired. Permanently.
while I applaud the action of these young ladies, beauty pageants are dehumanizing
dalton99a
(91,370 posts)Miss Universe fires back at 'malicious' exec who called Mexican contestant 'dumb'
KiMi Robinson
USA TODAY
The Miss Universe Organization is weathering another scandal ahead of its 74th annual pageant.
The organization is doing damage control after widespread condemnation of how Miss Universe Mexico, 25-year-old Fátima Bosch, was treated during a pre-sash ceremony event in Thailand.
During an awkward speech to the Miss Universe contestants, which was livestreamed Nov. 4 on Miss Universe Thailand's Facebook page, Nawat Itsaragrisil called out Bosch for allegedly not following through on an obligation for the competition, chastised her for explaining the situation and called her "dumb." The minutes-long back-and-forth ended with Itsaragrisil calling for security to remove her from the event.
Itsaragrisil, a Thai businessman, is president of Miss Grand International as well as vice president for Asia and Oceania within the Miss Universe Organization.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawat_Itsaragrisil
In 2016, Nawat was reported by Miss Iceland 2015, Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir to have said that "she's too fat and needed to lose weight" prior to the finals of Miss Grand International 2016 held in Las Vegas on October 25, 2016,[6] eventually dropping out of the pageant before the coronation due to the controversy. In a statement, Nawat said that they give similar advice to other contestants who asked what should they do to improve in order to win. Nawat eventually said that he had spoken with Jónsdóttir along with the company's vice president and clarified matters.[7] In 2022, Nawat has also publicly stated in a live stream that "Miss Vietnam had too long a torso and too short legs" as to the reason why Miss Vietnam failed to make top 10 in Miss Grand International 2022, enraging Vietnamese beauty fans.
Nawat has also expressed displeasure[8] about the behavior of Filipino pageant fans online. This is after several incidents of Filipino pageant fans attacking him on social media. These incidents include accusations of Nawat rigging the results of Miss Grand International, of him having a bias against Filipina contestants,[9][10] an Instagram post where Nawat insinuated that the coronation of Catriona Gray as Miss Universe 2018 was a rigged affair[11] and saying that Miss Philippines 2018 didn't make it due to the rest of the contestants being better than her.[11]
Nawat has also gotten into a verbal row with the Miss Supranational organization after the then reigning Miss Supranational Chanique Rabe did not include Miss Grand into what she considers the "Big Five" of pageants, saying that those pageants were "minor crowns".[12]
In 2025, Nawat publicly body-shamed Rachel Gupta, the winner of Miss Grand International 2024, through an Instagram post after she announced her decision to step down from her role. He shared two images of Rachel labeled Before and After, insinuating she had undergone cosmetic surgery. He also posted another photo accusing her of altering her appearance surgically. The Indian Pageant and Glamour responded, stating, There should be no place for someone like him in an organization such as Miss Universe. It should be a platform for empowerment, not harassment.[13]
In November 2025, he insulted Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch by referring to her as a "dumb head" should she follow the orders from Mexico's Miss Universe national director, who he claimed to have instructed Bosch not to post content related to Thailand, and in spite of her clarifying that it was a misunderstanding.[14] After doing this Miss Universe 2024 Victoria Kjær Theilvig walked out of the hall and all other contestants followed her.[15][16][17] Nawat claimed that he was misunderstood,[18] however Raul Rocha, the president of Miss Universe Organization, stepped in thereafter and declared that Nawat would be restricted from participating in subsequent activities as much as possible while bringing in executives from MUO to manage the rest of the contest.[14] Nawat subsequently apologised for his actions.[18]