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Miss Universe pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil broke down crying after issuing an apology for the controversial exchange he shared with Miss Mexico earlier this week.
“I am human. I didn’t want to do anything like that,” the Miss Universe Thailand director said through tears during a press conference on Wednesday, Nov. 5, per USA Today.
The Miss Universe Organization executive director was also seen crying and addressing reporters in a video shared to TikTok, while a man stood in the background carrying tissues that were presumably for the Miss Universe exec.
Meanwhile, Itsaragrisil addressed another crowd during a pageant welcome event later on Wednesday. He once again apologized, this time to the Miss Universe delegates standing behind him.
“I had not [intended] to harm anyone because I respect all of you,” he said. “I am so sorry it happened. First, I have to apologize to the delegates. If anyone was affected and not comfortable with what happened, I am so sorry.”
Itsaragrisil’s apology tour came after he shared a surprising confrontation with Mexico’s Miss Universe delegate, Fátima Bosch, during a pre-pageant event on Tuesday.
Bosch was singled out by Itsaragrisil before the annual sashing ceremony.
The event, which was live-streamed on the Miss Universe Thailand Facebook page and quickly went viral, captured Itsaragrisil calling out Bosch for not participating in a sponsorship shoot.
“Mexico, where are you?” he asked before Bosch spoke up. “I heard you’re not going to support everything about Thailand. Is that true?”
The exchange lasted for almost five minutes before Itsaragrisil called Bosch a “dummy.”
“I still keep talking to everybody, why you still stand up to talk to me,” he questioned Bosch.
“Because I have a voice,” she fired back. “You are not respecting me as a woman.”
The Thai businessman ultimately called for security to take Bosch out of the room as the rest of the Miss Universe contestants protested the move.
More than a dozen other participants walked out of the pre-pageant event in solidarity with Bosch.
“Sit down,” Itsaragrisil said as the contestants left the room. “If anyone wants to continue the contest, sit down.”
Miss Universe President Raúl Rocha Cantú later condemned Itsaragrisil and announced that he was sending someone else to Thailand to oversee the remainder of the events.
Cantú added that Itsaragrisil “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.”
Itsaragrisil spoke out on the controversy on his Instagram on Wednesday morning. He apologized for making those who saw the surprising video “uncomfortable.”
“I invested and tried my best to make this event fair to everyone but it’s hard to control because the daily events of being posted makes it harder for him to reach the miss,” he wrote.
“Sorry universe fans I can only do this because my patience has a limit,” the pageant executive concluded. “Sorry again if I make anyone uncomfortable watching.”
English (US)