Miss Universe Organization president Raul Rocha (left) and the pageant's vice president for Asiana, Nawat Itsaragrisil. Instagram: @missuniverse, @nawat.tv
The clash continues between the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) and Nawat Itsaragrisil, with the latter's participation in this year's pageant now restricted after his heated exchange with a candidate.
On Wednesday, November 5, MUO released a video of the organization's president Raul Rocha as he slammed the Thai entrepreneur for the "public aggression" he committed against Mexico's Fatima Bosch.
He said Itsaragrisil, who is Miss Universe's vice president for Asiana and national director of Miss Universe Thailand (MUT), has "forgotten the true meaning of what it means to be a genuine host."
Over 100 candidates, including the Philippines' Ahtisa Manalo, are already in Thailand for the 74th Miss Universe competition, with the coronation night set on November 21.
For over six minutes, Rocha reiterated MUO's solidarity with Bosch and the rest of the delegates, saying he "will not allow the values of respect and dignity toward women to be violated."
"I would like to make it clear my great indignation toward Nawat for the public aggression he committed against Fatima Bosch, Miss Universe Mexico, whom he humiliated, insulted, and he showed a lack of respect, in addition to the serious abuse of having called security to intimidate a defenseless woman, trying to silence and exclude her," he said in Spanish.
"Nawat, you need to stop. Every woman in the world should be respected," he stressed.
As a result of the incident, Rocha said Itsaragrisil's participation in the 74th Miss Universe competition has been restricted, "limiting it as much as possible or eliminating it entirely."
He went on to reveal that he has instructed MUO and its newly appointed CEO, Mario Bucaro, to "detail all of the corporate and legal actions we will undertake as a result of the malicious acts committed by Nawat."
"We will not allow a single person to cause harm and to thwart the dreams of so many women who traveled from all over the world to be there," the MUO president declared.
"I have also instructed a delegation of executives of the Miss Universe Organization and diplomatic experts within which is found Mr. Mario Bucaro and Ronald Day to travel immediately to Thailand and take control of this concentration and the event itself," he added.
MUO has been working with MUT and the Miss Grand International (MGI) Organization for this year's pageant. MGI, which recently crowned the Philippines' Emma Tiglao as its 2025 queen, is owned by Itsaragrisil.
Rocha, in his speech, made it clear that MUO operates differently from MGI as he expressed disappointment over the organization.
"We had, unfortunately, trusted MGI... and that trust has failed under the unfortunate leadership of Nawat," he said.
"The values of respect and dignity of women are neither negotiable and we differ strongly from MGI," he added. "I wish to reiterate that Miss Universe is an empowerment platform for women so that their voices can be heard in the world."
The messy public feud between MUO and Itsaragrisil began earlier this November as the organization gave a thumbs down to the latter's voting contest involving this year's candidates.
MUT, for its part, called out MUO on social media for promoting a sponsor associated with online casinos, which are illegal under Thai law.
Meanwhile, Itsaragrisil has yet to publicly react to Rocha's statement. The MGI founder, however, already apologized for his incident with Bosch in a live broadcast.
He likewise promised to take care of the contestants and make the Miss Universe pageant a success.