Miss Bolivia Stripped of Her Crown After 'Racist and Discriminatory' Remarks Against Rival Miss Universe 2023 Contestants

Miss Bolivia Maria Fernanda Pavisic, who was supposed to represent her country at the Miss Universe 2023 beauty pageant, was stripped of her crown.

According to the Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos, Promociones Gloria, responsible for the Miss Universe franchise in Bolivia, has revoked Pavisic's title as Miss Bolivia for "breach of contract." Promociones Gloria reportedly sent a letter to Pavisic to make her dismissal official.

Because she was stripped of her title, Pavisic can no longer compete in the Miss Universe 2023 contest, which will be held on January 4 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Pavisic was recently under fire for "racist and discriminatory" remarks she made in videos she posted to her Instagram stories that targeted rival contestants in the Miss Universe.

Her comments allegedly ranged from simple trash-talking to downright offensive. The tamer remarks included the former Miss Bolivia calling Miss Paraguay, Miss Brazil, and Miss El Salvador "old ladies," while Miss Ecuador, Miss Aruba, and Miss Curaçao, she said, belonged in the "thanks for participating" category.

Pavisic's comments toward Miss Venezuela, Miss Peru, and Miss Argentina were found to be the most offensive. She said Miss Venezuela and Miss Peru resembled "transsexuals," and she referred to Miss Argentina as "Miss Potosi," which was considered an insult to the women of Potosi city.

Last week, the mayor's office from the city of Potosi filed a complaint with Bolivia's Attorney General's Office and accused the 23-year-old former beauty queen of racism and discrimination. The Potosi city government has sought to ban her from the contest and stripped her of her Miss Bolivia title.

Former Miss Bolivia Maria Fernanda Pavisic Not Happy With Disqualification

Maria Fernanda Pavisic took to Instagram to post a lengthy statement ranting about the revocation of her Miss Bolivia title. According to Opinion Bolivia, Pavisic said her dethronement was "absolutely unfair" because she has "never made racist or discriminatory comments or statements against anyone."

The now-former Miss Bolivia noted that the arguments cited by Promociones Gloria in dismissing her only repeated the same "false accusations" thrown at her by the netizens.

The former Miss Bolivia said her dismissal sets a "bad precedent" in the contest because the crown was taken from someone who did not commit the actions for which she is accused.

The model closed her statement by saying, "a title of beauty is ephemeral and life is more than a crown," before thanking her loved ones for their support.

After she was attacked on social media for her alleged racist and discriminatory remarks, Pavisic, who is from the Santa Cruz region, posted another video in which she apologized to fellow Miss Universe 2023 contestants.

In the clip she posted on her Instagram, she said her original remarks were part of a "social experiment" that aims to show that social media users always tend to share content viewed as negative instead of those that carry a positive message.

"There have been many Misses Bolivia, but my intention was always to generate change. For a long time, I have published positive content, self-love, working with my social project, and showing my culture," she noted.

Pavisic further noted that it was not her intention to "involve derogatory comments," adding that she tried to "cause as little damage as possible to the candidates."

The model and psychology student then said: "I apologize because I am not the one to judge them, 'make fun' or make them have a hard time (as no one should do)." She also apologized to the city of Potosi in a follow-up post. However, pageant officials seemed not convinced.

New Miss Bolivia to Represent Country in Miss Universe 2023 Named

After Maria Fernanda Pavisic's dethronement, Promociones Gloria on Thursday named Maria Camila Sanabria Pereyra from Santa Cruz as the new Miss Bolivia who will represent the country in Miss Universe 2023.

Sanabria Pereyra won the crown of Miss Bolivia Supranational on July 16. According to Los Tiempos, Promociones Gloria made the announcement just hours after removing the title from Pavisic via its official Facebook page, posting a short statement and photos of the new Miss Bolivia Universe 2022.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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