Miss Grand International founder Nawat Itsaragrisil and MJ Lastimosa. Image: Instagram/@nawat.tv, @mj_lastimosa
Miss Grand International (MGI) founder Nawat Itsaragrisil appears to have banned his “friend” MJ Lastimosa from attending the Thailand-based competition, as he accused the actress-beauty queen of “laughing” at and “joking” about the beauty pageant.
Days after his tirades against the Philippines’ MGI bet Nikki de Moura for allegedly being “very unprofessional,” Itsaragrisil went on another TikTok live and spoke about his ill feelings for the Miss Universe Philippines 2014.
“I met her many times. [I offer] her a lot of things and she always said, ‘Oh, Miss Grand is number one—huge production,” Itsaragrisil said of Lastimosa, as seen in the video re-uploaded by online pageant community Pageant Talk on Facebook. “When I went to Manila, any time we keep calling—we had a good [friendship] and I help her a lot.”
Itsaragrisil stated that he even met with Lastimosa after the recent Miss Grand International coronation night in Vietnam. “A couple day after coronation night, she said, ‘I like Miss Grand; Miss Grand number one,’ and then what she said? She play two games. This is her.”
“I am very sincere to meet you, to talk to you but if you’re not sincere and you act different way—when you meet me; you sweet talk when you want something from me… And after that, what did you say? What did you question? What [were] you laughing [at]? What [were] you joking [about]?” the MGI founder continued.
Itsaragrisil did not immediately expound on the incident he was pertaining to. Meanwhile, the beauty pageant community has speculated that the MGI founder’s sentiment might have stemmed from Lastimosa’s “The Secret Lounge” interview with transgender beauty queen Maki Gingoyon in September.
In the interview, Lastimosa asked Gingoyon what she thinks is the “worst pageant in the Philippines,” to which the latter replied, “Miss Grand.” Lastimosa made the follow-up question: “International or Philippines?” and Gingoyon answered, “Philippines…and International,” then the two of them burst into laughter.
“The beauty is not from the body and the face. The beauty of the people must come from the inside and brain. Now I know you’re not beauty at all,” Itsaragrisil addressed Lastimosa. “I think we are no more; [no more] relationship between MJ and our organization and myself. Don’t come to Miss Grand anymore. We don’t know each other from now [on]. I don’t want to meet the people like you. [It’s] below standard.”
Lastimosa’ cryptic post
While Lastimosa has yet to publicly address the matter, the actress-beauty queen intrigued fans after she dropped a cryptic post via her Facebook page on Friday, Nov. 3.
“Ahay ambot sa inyo,” her post read, which translates to “Ewan ko sa inyo” in Filipino.
Hours after her post, Virtual Playground Global—the talent agency that manages Lastimosa and produces her YouTube series “The Secret Lounge”—issued a public apology to the MGI organization.
“The program ‘The Secret Lounge’ and Ms. Maki Gingoyon would like to issue an apology to Miss Grand Philippines Organization for the unsatisfactory opinion that came out during the aired episode last September on the MJ Lastimosa Channel,” the statement released on its Instagram page read.
“As part of the pageant community, we promise to promote peace and cooperation to anything that would help develop our beloved industry,” it concluded.