Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch Speaks Up After Exec Calls Her Dumb, Exec Dismissed

The Miss Universe competition is one of the most prestigious and well-known beauty pageants in the world, and it’s particularly huge in Latin America, which has produced over 50 of the competition’s winners since its founding in 1952. However, sexism and harassment of women have historically been prevalent in pageant spaces, and despite how far women’s rights have come around the world, women are often still mistreated in the world of beauty pageants. Now, Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch is taking a stand against sexism in the beauty pageant industry after walking out of a Miss Universe event when a pageant exec called her “dumb” and asked security to remove her. 

A livestreamed pre-sash ceremony event in Thailand on November 4 took an unexpected turn when Thai Miss Universe director Nawat Itsaragrisil insulted Bosch while speaking about contestants’ duties. After Itsaragrisil reprimanded Bosch for missing a sponsor shoot earlier in the day, she explained that per instructions from the Miss Universe Mexico organization, it wasn’t a required event. This prompted Itsaragrisil to chastise her, calling her dumb and accusing her of disobedience when she stood up for herself, and ask for security to remove her. 

Following the incident, over a dozen of her fellow contestants walked out in solidarity with Bosch, including the current Miss Universe Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark, who said “this is about women’s rights” and that “tearing down another woman is beyond disrespectful.” After walking out, Bosch took a moment to address the media, denouncing Itsaragrisil’s mistreatment of her. 

“I think the world needs to see this because we are empowered women, and this platform is for our voice, and no one can shut our voice [up]. No one will do that to me… You all have my respect, and I love your country, but the way he treated me without reason just because he has problems — that is not ok,” Bosch said. 

The Miss Universe Mexico organization posted a statement to Instagram calling the incident “unacceptable” and stating that “no woman” deserves “to be insulted or humiliated. The Miss Universe Organization also condemned Itsaragrisil’s words, sharing a video of President Raúl Rocha Cantú who stated in Spanish that the Thai pageant director, who extended a general apology to contestants for causing discomfort on social media, “showed a lack of respect” and intimidated “a defenseless woman.”

“I 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 Fátima Bosch, Miss Universe Mexico,” Rocha Cantú said. “I wish to reiterate that Miss Universe is an empowering platform for women.”

Former Miss Universe Sheynnis Palacios, who won the crown in 2023, also voiced her support in a statement posted to her Instagram story, writing that it is “not acceptable for a woman to be insulted or publicly disrespected” in the pageant that “claims to promote the voice, talent, and dignity of women” and that “representing a country” is “a legacy of respect.” 

In a recent video of Bosch, the Mexican beauty queen said that she is “not afraid” to make her voice heard: “I have a purpose; I have things to say,” Bosch said in Spanish. “We’re in the 21st century, and I’m not a doll to be made up, styled and have my clothes changed. I came here to be a voice for all the women and all the girls who fight for causes and to tell my country that I’m completely committed to that.”

Nov. 7 Update:

Nawat Itsaragrisil has been dismissed from this year’s Miss Universe pageant.

Rocha announced Itsaragrisil would be restricted from being a part of the pageant held on Nov. 21 in Thailand.

“I have restricted Nawat’s participation in the events that are part of the 74th Miss Universe competition, limiting it as much as possible or eliminating it entirely,” Rocha stated in Spanish in a subtitled video posted to the organization’s official Instagram page. He added his “great indignation towards Nawat for the public aggression he committed against Fátima Bosch … whom he humiliated, insulted, and showed lack of respect to.”