A contestant from the Miss Universe pageant has voiced her concerns after facing ‘disrespectful’ remarks from one of the pageant’s organizers.
Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, 25, decided to leave a pre-pageant event earlier this month following a confrontation with executive Nawat Itsaragrisil.
This incident was captured on a Facebook Live video and quickly went viral. In the video, Itsaragrisil appeared to belittle Bosch by calling her a ‘dummy’, to which Bosch responded: “You are not respecting me as a woman.”
As Bosch exited the event, she stated to Itsaragrisil: “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.”
Numerous contestants joined Bosch in solidarity, leaving the pageant event to support her.
The exact cause of the argument remains unclear; however, reports suggest Itsaragrisil criticized Bosch for allegedly skipping a promotional photoshoot, which she claims was directed by her team.
After the confrontation, Itsaragrisil stated that he did not call Bosch ‘dummy’ but instead used the word ‘damage’.
In his apology to the contestants, he said: “I want to take this opportunity to say something about something that’s happened, because I am a human.
“I think you must understand the pressure is a lot, I am a human sometimes. I cannot control. By the way, I have not intended to harm anyone because I respect all of you. I am so sorry it happened… If anyone was affected and not comfortable with what happened, I am so sorry.”
Subsequently, the President of the Miss Universe Organization, Raúl Rocha, announced that Itsaragrisil would not be allowed to participate in the 74th Miss Universe competition.
In a statement delivered in Spanish with English subtitles, Rocha declared: “I have restricted Nawat’s participation in the events that are part of the 74th Miss Universe competition, limiting it as much as possible or eliminating it entirely.
“I will not allow the values of respect and dignity towards women to be violated. [I have] great indignation towards Nawat for the public aggression he committed against Fátima Bosch, Miss Universe Mexico, whom he humiliated, insulted, and showed lack of respect to, [with] serious abuse by calling security to intimidate a defenseless woman.”
He went on to say: “Nawat, you need to stop.”
Despite the controversy, Bosch achieved the ultimate victory by being crowned Miss Universe at the final event in Pak Kret, Thailand, on Friday, November 21.
Following the incident, Bosch shared her thoughts in a statement.
On Instagram, she reflected [translated]: “Today I reaffirmed that what God has destined for you, neither envy stops it, nor destiny aborts it, nor luck changes it. Long live Christ the King.”