Formation 2013 Headquarters Bangkok Official language English | Type Beauty pageant Location Thailand | |
Motto Stop the War and Violence | ||
Miss Grand International is an annual international female beauty contest.
The current Miss Grand International is Ariska Putri Pertiwi of Indonesia who was crowned on 25 October 2016 in Las Vegas, USA.
Controversy
On March 24, 2016, Anea Garcia of Dominican Republic resigned the title of Miss Grand International 2015 after allegations of sexual assault while on a publicity trip to South Sudan and safety issues arose, in which the organization and the president Nawat Itsaragrisil of MGI did not take action nor look into. After Garcia's resignation from the title, the Miss Grand International Organization announced that her first runner-up, Claire Elizabeth Pearl Parker, assumed the title of Miss Grand International 2015.
In 2016, Miss Iceland, Arna Ýr Jónsdóttir, withdrew from the pageant after being told she needed to lose weight by pageant officials. In a statement, Nawat Itsaragrisil said she was too fat and needed to lose weight too. She was told to stop eating breakfast and only eat salad for lunch and drink water for dinner. The pageant attempted to withhold her passport, demanding $3000 for it back.