Turns out, the chaos of this year’s Miss Universe pageant didn’t end after Mexico’s Fátima Bosch Fernández was crowned the winner last week in a competition marred by bullying, a hospitalization, and allegations of vote rigging.
Instead, inexplicably, it’s gotten worse.
“Something was deeply wrong behind the scenes. We felt it. We saw it. We lived it,” Miss Universe Haiti Melissa Queenie Sapini said in a statement released to media Wednesday.
Sapini’s statement comes amid fresh controversies for the 2025 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Bangkok and culminated in Bosch being named the winner last Friday.
At that point, the competition had already been plagued by a Thai organizer’s sharp-tongued scolding of Bosch caught on a livestream, two judges dropping out — with one suggesting that there was an element of vote rigging to the contest — plus a fake drug controversy and a contestant falling off the stage.
What is happening in the Miss Universe universe? And can the 74-year-old pageant survive the drama? These questions loom amid the ongoing debate over whether beauty pageants are archaic or empowering. But either way, it appears people are watching.
Since the winner was announced, at least two contestants have renounced their titles and several others have spoken out about the competition. Miss Jamaica, Gabrielle Henry, who fell off the stage, is still in the hospital.
Meanwhile, there’s an arrest warrant for the pageant’s co-owner in connection with a fraud case, and now even the organization’s president is reportedly fed up and looking to sell his stake.
“It’s just that I’m so fed up. I’m so fed up with all the talk,” Miss Universe Organization president Raul Rocha said in an interview Monday with Mexican journalist Adela Micha, and translated in media reports.
Fátima Bosch Fernández was crowned Miss Universe 2025 on Friday in Bangkok. It was a dramatic victory for Bosch, 25, in a pageant plagued by controversy and chaos.
Viewership ‘shattered records’
The Miss Universe Organization recently posted a video saying it “shattered records” this year as the most-viewed Miss Universe in history, with 2.6 billion global views across social media.
NBC announced Tuesday that Telemundo’s live broadcast in Spanish also set a new record with 2.6 million viewers, make it the most-watched primetime entertainment special on Spanish-language television in 2025.
“There are very few cultural events where everyone around the world can tune in at the same time, watching the same show across borders,” BBC journalist and global pop culture expert William Lee Adams told BBC’s The Global Story podcast Wednesday.
People often look at the pageant from a Western point of view, where ratings have declined, Adams said.
“But the fact is, in other countries, this is one of the few opportunities where they can compete on the same stage with these very rich nations and beat them.”
Contestants renounce titles, speak out
And now, the drama. First, at least two contestants have renounced their titles since the competition ended: Miss Côte d’Ivoire and Miss Estonia.
Côte d’Ivoire’s Olivia Yace, who was the fourth runner up and named Miss Universe Africa and Oceania, announced on Instagram Monday that she was giving up her title, “as well as any future affiliation with the Miss Universe Committee.
“I must remain true to my values,” Yace wrote in the post, adding that her greatest wish is to be a positive role model for younger generations, especially girls.
Yace said stepping away will mean she can dedicate herself to her goals and values more fully.
Miss Universe Estonia Brigitta Schaback also announced on Instagram that she was stepping down, saying on Sunday that “my values and work ethics do not align with those of the National Director, Natalie Korneitsik.”
Korneitsik is the national director of the Miss Universe Estonia organization. The organization told People magazine there was “no personal conflict involved” and said, without elaborating, that Schaback had made “inappropriate” public comments.
Schaback has posted several Instagram stories criticizing the pageant, including some that were still visible Wednesday.
“I never imagined that in 2025 I would have to stand against a platform built to champion women’s rights and empowerment — just to defend those very same rights and equal opportunities,” she wrote.
‘The truth is coming’
Other contestants have spoken out about their own experiences, including Miss Universe Portugal Camila Vitorino.
In an Instagram post Tuesday, Vitorino wrote she “no longer feels represented by the principles the Miss Universe organization has chosen to uphold” after claiming organizers implied that women in relationships or with children don’t have a chance of winning.
There’s also Miss Haiti’s cryptic media statement today, in which she called her experience “a nightmare.”
“You’ve seen the headlines. But what we went through was far worse. A rigged voting system. Judges with personal relationships with contestants. Blatant favoritism towards certain contestants based on the colour of their skin,” Sapini said.
No further details about the allegations were provided, but the message ended with “the truth is coming.”
Drama for views?
On Wednesday, there was another new chapter to the controverses: an arrest warrant.
A court in Thailand said that it has issued an arrest warrant for a co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization in connection with a fraud case. Jakkaphong (Anne) Jakrajutatip was charged with fraud, then released on bail in 2023.
She failed to appear as required in a Bangkok court on Tuesday. Her whereabouts remain unclear. She did not appear at the 74th Miss Universe competition.
In recounting the “chaos” of the pageant, Miss Ireland Aadya Srivastava told People magazine Monday she believes the organization wanted to create drama for views.
“I see it as a way to gain views, to gain media attention, which is what they got eventually,” Srivastava said.
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