The Miss Universe pageant has been thrust into crisis after a confrontation at a sashing ceremony in Thailand triggered a high-profile walkout led by the reigning titleholder and several national delegates, escalating into a public rebuke from the organisation’s president and the curtailing of a senior executive’s role. The incident, streamed live on Facebook during pre-pageant proceedings in Bangkok on 4 November, showed Thai pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil calling out Miss Mexico, Fátima Bosch, over her alleged refusal to participate in a promotional shoot. In the exchange, which quickly drew audible gasps in the room, Bosch tried to answer but was interrupted, and was at one point derided as “dumb,” a remark widely cited by viewers and later repeated by Bosch herself in comments to media. When security was called to remove her, Bosch walked out; within moments, more than a dozen delegates stood and followed, including reigning Miss Universe Victoria Kjær Theilvig, whose departure underlined the depth of discontent among contestants.
Footage circulating online shows fragments of the confrontation. “Mexico, where are you?” the executive asked, pressing Bosch to explain her absence from the shoot and accusing her of following orders from her national director, according to contemporaneous accounts that referenced the livestream. “Because I have a voice,” Bosch replied as she stood her ground, adding, “You are not respecting me as a woman.” As tensions rose, security was summoned and Bosch began to leave the room, saying she would not be silenced. Contestants around her applauded or stood up; some ignored instructions to sit down. Theilvig, Denmark’s first Miss Universe winner, walked out with Bosch and others in a scene that quickly drew global attention across social media.
Bosch addressed reporters outside the venue shortly afterwards, saying she loved Thailand but considered the exchange unacceptable. She said the official had called her “dumb” and that she was determined to speak for herself and for women watching the contest. “I’m here representing a country and it’s not my fault that you have problems with me,” she said in Spanish in a clip widely shared by pageant followers. Her national organisation, Miss Universe Mexico, later posted a public message of solidarity, saying no woman should be insulted or humiliated on any stage. The tone of the response from fellow contestants and pageant supporters – who described the moment as empowering and overdue – captured a broader debate about how participants are treated and who holds power inside the event’s machinery.
The Miss Universe Organization reacted within hours. In a recorded statement delivered in Spanish and posted across official channels, president Raúl Rocha Cantú condemned the conduct on display at the sashing event and said he would not allow “the values of respect and dignity toward women to be violated.” He said Bosch had been humiliated and insulted and that calling security to intimidate a contestant was a serious abuse. “Nawat, you need to stop,” Rocha said, naming the executive directly and accusing him of a “constant desire to be the center of attention” when the focus should be on the delegates. Rocha announced that newly appointed chief executive Mario Búcaro, accompanied by a high-level team, would fly to Thailand to take control of operations, and that Itsaragrisil’s access to pageant events would be limited pending further review.