Miss Universe executive speaks out after his 'disrespectful' comments to contestant were caught on camera
Topics: News, World News
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: NDTV
Topics: News, World News
A Miss Universe executive attempted to offer a tearful apology after sparking controversy by ‘disrespecting’ contestants ahead of a pageant this week.
An official Miss Universe event was set to take place on November 21 in Thailand, but a pre-pageant ahead of this has sparked some serious drama.
Pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil’s behavior has been called into question after a video began circulating on social media.
In a Facebook live video, Itsaragrisil can be heard berating Miss Mexico and the other contestants before reportedly insulting her.
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His anger at the contestants seemed to stem from Mexico’s representative, Fatima Bosch, who failed to take part in a photoshoot that was meant to promote Thailand and then be shared on each contestant's social media page.
The executive claimed that Bosch didn’t take part in the direction from Mexico’s pageant director.
She has denied these claims, and this is when things took a turn in the Facebook live video.
Itsaragrisil called Bosch a ‘dummy’ or ‘dumbhead’, and appeared to speak down to her before she and some other contestants stormed out in protest against the behavior.
As Bosch left the room, she told 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."
Following this, Itsaragrisil took to Instagram to issue an apology.
He said in a video: "If anyone [was] feeling not good, if anyone [was] not comfortable. If anyone [was affected], I do apologize for everyone."
Itsaragrisil added that he also apologized to the contestants in the room at the time of the incident. However, the executive was struggling to hold back tears as he made yet another apology, this time at a press conference.
According to a WIONEWS report, he said: “I want to apologize to everyone. I had no idea how big this issue would become.”
However, he denied calling Bosch a 'dummy' or 'dumbhead' and attempted to argue that he said 'damage' instead.
He continued: "For international fans, I didn’t say ‘dumbhead’ even one second. So, could you please check it again in our Facebook Miss Universe Thailand. I said, 'Damage'."
The Miss Universe Organization President, Raul Rocha, has also condemned Itsaragrisil’s ‘malicious’ behavior and said that he had ‘humiliated and insulted’ Bosch.
In a video statement, Rocha added that Itsaragrisil 'forgot the true meaning of what it means to be a genuine host'.