Beauty Queen Tearfully Steps Down from Miss Grand International as Pageant Denies Harassment Claims
Gupta claims that during her time as Miss Grand International, she experienced toxicity including body shaming and poor food and housing accommodations
Miss Grand International has responded to claims in a statement provided to PEOPLE, calling her claims 'false' and 'misleading'An international beauty queen is letting go of her crown after she claims to have endured unfair treatment from the organization that bestowed her title.
Rachel Gupta, who was crowned Miss Grand International in October 2024, detailed her alleged experience in a nearly hour-long YouTube video explaining her decision to relinquish her title.
"The whole time that I was working with Miss Grand International, the last seven months, I was constantly harassed, manipulated, ignored and left to fend for myself," Gupta said, beginning her now-viral explanation.
While her claims have amassed over 1 million views, Miss Grand International is now responding in a lengthy statement shared with PEOPLE.
"Miss Grand International Public Company Limited (MGI) issues this formal statement in response to a series of false, misleading, and defamatory claims made publicly by Ms. Rachel Gupta, former Miss Grand International 2024," the statement begins. "Her remarks, circulated via a video published on 28 May 2025, distort facts and misrepresent her contractual relationship with MGI — relying solely on emotional appeals and tearful storytelling without any physical evidence to support her claims."
"Furthermore, Ms. Gupta made specific allegations directed at Ms. Teresa Chaivisut, the Chief Operating Officer of MGI. We firmly state that every accusation made against Ms. Teresa is entirely false and without merit," the statement continues. "Throughout Ms. Gupta's reign, Ms. Teresa acted with professionalism, fairness, and in full alignment with MGI's internal policies and ethical standards. These defamatory claims are rejected in their entirety."
The statement adds, "MGI will not allow personal attacks or manipulative narratives to undermine the credibility of its executives or the integrity of the organization."
Gupta claimed that after competing against her peers and winning the crown, she was forced to sign a "one-sided" contract that gave her little room to say no to those in charge of the title. In exchange, however, Gupta expected that the accommodations promised to her as part of winning the crowd would be provided.
The pageant winner claimed she quickly learned that she would not be provided with the monthly stipend, penthouse lodging and 'basic amenities" she was promised. Rather, she alleged that she had to buy her own Thai cell phone to be able to keep in touch with her family. She also was unaware that the prize money that came with the title wouldn't be paid out until the end of her reign, leaving in her a complicated financial situation where she had to rely on family.
She claimed that "immediately after winning, they moved me into a cramped hotel room, where all my suitcases couldn't open properly because there wasn't enough space."
Eventually, she claimed she was moved to "a dilapidated house which was way on the outside of the city," alleging, "I had no car. They didn't give me any way of getting around. I was stuck in the house until they decided that they needed me for something."
Relying on takeout because "there were no pots and pans," she said that she gained weight and was allegedly ridiculed for it by MGI officials.
'They were hounding me, constantly talking about my weight and my body," Gupta tearfully alleged. "They sent a representative to me, and he just comes up to me and starts pinching me in places. He's like, 'Oh, you need to lose weight here. You need to lose weight here.' It's so embarrassing. It makes you feel so small and so bad."
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Gupta alleged that she was "stuck" in Thailand, and not allowed to go home to India. The last straw for Gupta was that she allegedly had "no security." When she was on their grounds, $1,000 allegedly went missing and MGI did not help her in that situation.
'I realized, in that moment, that these people will never support me,' she said. 'Frankly they don't care if I live or die. As long as I'm there to smile at their events, as long as I keep my body super skinny, the way they like, they don't care if I live or die. They just want me to be there, to go on TikTok Live and make money for them and show up at their events. That's it, that's all they want from me."
She continued, "I realized they would never, never support me, and I was completely on my own… they made us sell. You guys know they made us sell these cheap, tacky products on TikTok like we were salesgirls. You've crowned queens, girls who have careers in our country, we do things, we're well respected, and they're making us sell cheap products on TikTok because it makes them money and you can't say no."
Shortly after the video went live, Miss Grand National announced that they were rescinding Gupta's crown, vehemently denying her claims.
"The Miss Grand International Organization hereby announces the termination of Miss Rachel Gupta's title as Miss Grand International 2024, effective immediately," the statement shared on social media read. "This decision follows her failure to fulfill her assigned duties, engagement in external projects without prior approval from the organization, and her refusal to participate in the scheduled trip to Guatemala.""As a result, the organization has resolved to revoke her title with immediate effect. Miss Rachel Gupta is no longer authorized to use the title or wear the crown associated with Miss Grand International 2024," the statement continued. "We request that the crown be returned to the MGI Head Office within 30 days from the date of this notice."
In the meantime, the organization is moving on with Ana Sofía Lendl, Miss Grand Guatemala, as their new Miss Grand International.
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