After the controversial altercation with the Mexican Fátima Bosch, representative of Miss Mexico 2025 in the international beauty pageant, the Thai businessman Nawat Itsaragrisil, president of Miss Grand International, offered a public apology after the insults he addressed to her during an official ceremony in Thailand.
The conflict, which occurred during the contest’s sashing event, was widely disseminated on social networks after videos circulated showing the manager reprimanding and shouting at the Mexican contestant in front of dozens of participants and organizers.
The scene provoked outrage in the audience and opened a debate about the treatment of the participants in this type of contest.
The altercation took place at the Chatrium Riverside Bangkok hotel, where candidates from different countries gathered to receive their sashes and participate in pre-contest activities.
According to reports, Fatima Bosch was singled out by Nawat for not posting promotional material on social media about her stay in Thailand.
According to witnesses, the tone of the conversation became tense when Bosch tried to explain that her official agenda already included other commitments, which is why she had not been able to fulfill the request at the time. This answer infuriated Itsaragrisil, who interrupted her and, visibly annoyed, ordered her to shut up, even referring to her as a “fool”.
“I didn’t give you permission to speak,” the Thai businessman is heard saying in one of the videos that quickly went viral on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
The scene provoked boos and gestures of discontent among the other contestants, some of whom stood up in solidarity with Bosch. Shortly thereafter, security personnel intervened to control the situation.
Public apology from the president of Miss Grand International to Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch
Faced with the wave of criticism and the media impact of the incident, Nawat Itsaragrisil made a live broadcast hours later, in which he gave his version of events and assured to have apologized to both the contestants and the contest team.
“If anyone does not feel good, if anyone is not comfortable, if anyone was affected, I apologize to everyone. I already spoke and apologized to the rest of the girls in the room; there were about 75 people present,” the businessman expressed.
During the broadcast, Itsaragrisil acknowledged that the manner in which the activities were communicated may have caused confusion, which may have contributed to the misunderstanding with the Mexican representative.
“I know that sometimes a lot of situations happen. Maybe they got confused when they read the Miss Universe ad. What I wanted to do was very complicated, so we will solve the problem,” she explained.
The executive insisted that he never intended to publicly humiliate Bosch and called the incident a “misunderstanding,” although he did not mention whether he offered a direct apology to the Mexican contestant.
In the same broadcast, Itsaragrisil announced that she would meet with Miss Universe representatives in Thailand to discuss what happened and establish corrective measures within the organization.
“I will first meet directly with the Miss Universe organization this afternoon in Thailand, for more than an hour, because currently no one has authority over Miss Universe in Thailand (…) After the discussion and meeting, I asked for an executive director to come to work in Thailand urgently,” she detailed.
Despite his statements, thousands of users continued to express their displeasure on social networks, pointing out that the businessman’s tone during the ceremony was humiliating and that his public apologies were insufficient.
Fatima Bosch, who has a solid career as a model and activist, responded calmly to the incident, stressing that what happened “should not be repeated. In subsequent statements, she reiterated her respect for the Thai people, but stressed that no woman should be treated that way at an event that is promoted as a platform for empowerment.
“The world needs to see this, because we are empowered women and this is a platform to use our voice. No one will be able to silence my voice,” she said.
The Mexican representative received massive expressions of support both in her country and in other parts of the world. As she left the hotel, dozens of people gave her a standing ovation with shouts of “Mexico, Mexico” as a sign of solidarity.
With this episode still unfolding, the Miss Universe 2025 pageant now faces the challenge of preserving its international reputation and ensuring an environment of respect and professionalism for all participants.
Here is the video of Nawat Itsaragrisil, apologizing for the incident.
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