French exit: Miss Grand International pageant loses another queen
Safietou Kabengele. Image: Facebook/Miss Grand International
True to form, the drama in the Miss Grand International pageant continues with another beauty queen dissociating herself from the controversial global beauty contest.
Miss Grand France Safietou Kabengele has publicly declared that she is distancing herself from the organization and rescinding her post as third runner-up.
On her Instagram account, the French beauty queen said, “Sometimes walking away is the most powerful way to honor yourself.” She also shared a link to a TikTok video she posted to share her story in greater detail.
Because of this, erstwhile fourth runner-up Talita Hartmann has been promoted to first runner-up. Miss Grand International founder, owner, and head Nawat Itsaragrisil congratulated the Brazilian beauty himself online.
“Today I announce to you from myself, from my own free will, that I return my title of third runner-up Miss Grand International,” Kabengele said in French in her TikTok video, with English subtitles that she provided herself.
@safietoukabengele The crown is temporary, my voice is not 🧏🏾♀️💫 I may no longer be the 3rd Runner-Up of MGI, but I’ll always be your one and only Safietou KABENGELE a woman of strength, truth, and heart ❤️ #safietoukabengele #missgrandinternational #pageantry #missgrandfrance #pov ♬ son original – Safiétou KABENGELE
Just recently, erstwhile winner Rachel Gupta of India also abdicated the throne because of “broken promises, mistreatment, and a toxic environment I can no longer endure in silence.”
Filipino queen Christine Juliane “CJ” Opiaza, who finished second to Gupta in the competition, officially assumed the title and will take over the remainder of the reign. She was crowned in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, June 3.
Online bullying
Kabengele said she is stepping away because of the disrespect that she felt when the Miss Grand International Organization remained silent during the months that she has been experiencing online bullying due to an honest response she gave to a question.
Asked online why she was not close to Gupta, she said, “I don’t see myself close to a person who, at the time, I called a hypocrite and with poor behavior in front of some people. For me, she was haughty.”
A deluge of online attacks followed this, varying from hurtful comments to full-blown video edits besmirching her reputation. Miss Grand International head Nawat Itsaragrisil was also filmed saying she could no longer work for the pageant.
Kabengele said she sought clarification from the pageant organization for months, but did not receive any response. Until recently, when the Miss Grand International pageant updated its cover photo, giving Opiaza prominence, with the French beauty queen positioned beside her.
The new Miss Grand International cover image with Filipino queen CJ Opiaza (fifth from left) prominently positioned. Image: Facebook/Miss Grand International
The Miss Grand International Organization, Kabengele said, finally responded to her query and told her to brush Nawat’s previous statement aside, and “just forget about it.”
“After six months of harassment, after six months of ignorance, just like that? No. I’m sorry. It’s something I can’t accept…Acting like nothing had happened six months after, six months of harassment, six months where I was disrespected, and pop out with a new [cover photo] and just putting me in?” she asked.
Kabengele said, “I’m not one of those women whose big dream is to become queen, no. I am one of those women who use platforms as a platform to make their voices heard.”
Saying “a sash does not define who you are,” she shared about her masterclasses in France where she holds sessions on catwalk and self-love, and where she reminds women “that the most important in everything you do is to impact, and not let yourself be defined by any title, by any remark, or event that could qualify you.”
Kabengele also revealed that her mother and a small team helped her in her Miss Grand International journey because her national organization tried to abuse her.
“I fell into a toxic committee in France. So I’m talking about the national committee that did not hesitate to try to manipulate me, to try to blackmail me, to try to get money out of me,” she said.
`Dolls without brains’
“I decided to go by myself. I decided not to let myself be manipulated by people who see women as dolls without brains and like piggy banks that you can break at any time at the cost of their dreams,” Kabengele continued.
She, however, still expressed gratitude to the Miss Grand International Organization for “offering [her] this experience, because [she] was able to meet incredible women, with whom I’m still in contact. I had a crazy experience.”
Kabengele also shared an observation as a logistics coordinator herself. “I [commend] anyway the teams of Miss Grand International. I [commend] this ability that they have to take care of so many women at the same time. And for that, I congratulate them,” she said.
“But let me apologize for the rest. I prefer to detach myself from the [organization] with all my recognition, all my love, and all my respect,” she added.
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On her Instagram post, Kabengele congratulated her newly-crowned “bestie” Opiaza. “Shine on, sis, I love you. Please keep being yourself,” she wrote.
She also left a reminder to all the women in the world in her video: “A crown is not only carried on the head, it shines from the inside. Keep that in mind, girls. Please shine from the inside before trying to shine from the outside. It will save you.”
Kabengele also told her viewers that she will still be visible moving forward. “I don’t intend to disappear. Quite the contrary, I have more goals to achieve, and I hope you will be there to follow me,” she said./mr
