NEED TO KNOW
On Dec. 3, Miss Universe Thailand posted a statement to its official Facebook page claiming that Miss Grand International president Nawat Itsaragrisil filed a criminal complaint against Fátima BoschMiss Universe 2025 first made headlines due to a heated confrontation between Bosch and Itsaragrisil during a livestreamed, pre-pageant event on Nov. 4Itsaragrisil’s alleged formal complaint — photos of which were also shared on Facebook — characterized Bosch’s continued references to the viral confrontation as “defamatory”

Miss Grand International (MGI) president Nawat Itsaragrisil has claimed he formally filed a criminal complaint against Fátima Bosch, the winner of Miss Universe 2025 whom Itsaragrisil confronted at a pre-pageant event.

On Nov. 4, Itsaragrisil called out Bosch for allegedly refusing to partake in a photo shoot meant for contestants to share on social media. He claimed that Bosch — who was later crowned Miss Universe 2025 on Nov. 21 — wasn’t posting on orders from Mexico’s pageant director during the gathering of contestants, which was livestreamed on Facebook by Miss Universe Thailand.

Though Bosch denied this was the case and attempted to explain her side, Itsaragrisil could be seen in the livestream, interrupting and demanding a verbal confirmation that she was willing to post about Thailand. Several outlets reported that Itsaragrisil called Bosch a “dumbhead” during their confrontation; a representative for MGI issued a comment to PEOPLE responding to and denying the allegation.

Fatima Bosch after winning Miss Universe 2025 on Nov. 21, 2025.

LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty

“Miss Mexico wrongly claimed that Mr. Nawat called her ‘dumbhead,’ when he actually said ‘damage.’ Video evidence is available. She has never corrected the false accusation, which caused significant reputational harm to Mr. Nawat and triggered a series of escalating issues throughout the 74th Miss Universe event,” the MGI representative said.

On Wednesday, Dec. 3, the official Miss Universe Thailand Facebook page shared a post on behalf of MGI and Itsaragrisil, stating their intention to “officially clarify” matters “with regard to the incident reported by multiple media outlets involving the interaction” between Itsaragrisil and Bosch last month.

“We wish to reaffirm that Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil never called Ms. Fatima Bosch a ‘dumbhead.’ What he said was ‘damage,’ which is clearly audible in the voice recordings that have already been widely circulated across various platforms,” the social media post began.

“However, when Ms. Fatima Bosch Fernandez walked out of the room, she immediately made a false accusation in front of the media by publicly claiming otherwise. Even after she later became aware of the facts, she did not apologize to Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil,” the statement continued. “Instead, she continued to falsely accuse him in multiple interviews, seemingly for personal gain and to justify herself throughout the competition—after which she was ultimately crowned Miss Universe, as everyone is aware.”

The Facebook post follows Bosch’s ABC News interview, which aired on Tuesday, Dec. 2. During her discussion with Nightline anchor JuJu Chang, Bosch defended the pageant and discussed her confrontation with Itsaragrisil, admitting she was “scared at that time” and feared speaking out might cost her the crown.

MGI and Itsaragrisil’s latest statement referred to Bosch “[continuing] to give interviews misrepresenting the incident, repeatedly defaming Mr. Nawat across various media channels.”

Nawat Itsaragrisil.

NARONG SANGNAK/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The update went on to claim that Itsaragrisil “formally filed a criminal complaint against” Bosch in Thailand on Nov. 12, 2025. The post also included photos from the multi-page filing, which is written in Thai.

“If any further defamatory actions are discovered, additional legal action will be taken to the fullest extent of the law,” the Facebook statement concluded. “We request that all media outlets exercise caution when reporting this matter and refrain from cooperating with or amplifying Ms. Fatima’s false allegations. Failure to do so may result in legal action against such media entities as co-conspirators in defamation.”

Neither MGI, Itsaragrisil nor Bosch have replied to PEOPLE’s request for further comment regarding the criminal complaint Itsaragrisil allegedly filed against Bosch.

On Wednesday, Dec. 3, Miss Universe contestant Melissa Sapini publicly called for an independent, external investigation into allegations against the pageant in an open statement shared with PEOPLE.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In her statement, Sapini — who represented Haiti at the competition — referenced the confrontation on Nov. 4 and Itsaragrisil’s claim about a defamation complaint against Bosch.

“As for Nawat’s behavior, I was in that room. We all heard what he said. Claiming it was a misunderstanding is insulting to every multilingual woman in the competition. To blame a language barrier is outrageous. His crocodile tears were dramatic, not honest,” Sapini said. “Now, he’s attempting to silence Fátima with fabricated criminal charges. When will this man stop?”