BANGKOK: The Miss Universe 2025 pageant, a beauty contest that was assigned to be held in Thailand in 2025, was ruined right from the start because of an incident involving Miss Mexico, Fatima Bush, which led to the withdrawal of the contestants and the controversy becoming the main topic.
The thing that caused the whole mess was the Twitter post of Nawat, in which he insultingly called Fatima “stupid”. Almost all of the participants took the word and showed their dissatisfaction. The disagreement escalated to such an extent that a video of it was posted online, thus causing an enormous public reaction.
Some contestants from different countries, in support of Miss Mexico, decided to leave the place as a protest gesture. One of the participating countries’ representative Victoria Thelwig, expressing her point of view, said that the abuse of Miss Mexico was “totally unacceptable” and “far away from the standard of any world competition.”
Fatima Bush, the incident upset her greatly, made a declaration after the walkout that she refused to be like a “bull” that keeps silent and she will keep raising her voice for women’s rights. She cited that her position was only a matter of respect for all women not only in the case of beauty contests but in all fields.
Many social media users quickly supported her and labeled the event director’s comments as unacceptable while also showing their support to Miss Mexico. Numerous Nawat Atsaragrisil detractors called for his immediate resignation, and their messages were overwhelming, pointing to the necessity of his removal from the office.
The Miss Universe Organization, in an escalated tone, argued that “respect and honor are the rights of every participant.” The association committed itself to conducting a thorough investigation on the dispute and said that it was very serious about such incidents and taking appropriate preventive measures in the future.
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The Miss Universe 2025 competition has thus been at the center of the debate on women’s rights and treatment in highly visible global events, and many are suggesting a complete overhaul of the management of such contests and the treatment of participants by the organizers.
The atmosphere is still very strained, and it is not certain how this scandal will influence upcoming pageants; however, it has, for sure, overshadowed the event which was supposed to be a celebration of beauty, talent, and culture.
