Beauty Queen Won't Return Crown Until Pageant Organizers Apologize

May Myat Noe, the 18-year-old beauty queen from Burma who was recently stripped of her Miss Asia Pacific World title after turning down pageant officials’ offer to buy her breast implants, has given a press conference to explain that she will not return her crown (worth $100,000) until receiving an official apology for her mistreatment.

David Kim, the media director of Miss Asia Pacific World, has argued that Noe lost her title because she was, according to the Guardian, “dishonest and unappreciative.”

Previously, Kim stated, “We thought she should be more beautiful…so as soon as she arrived we sent her to the hospital to operate on her breasts…It’s our responsibility. If she has no good nose, then maybe, if she likes, we can operate on her nose. If it’s breasts, then breasts.”

Noe, however, found her breasts to be just fine, so rather than get the surgery, she skipped town and took the crown with her.

In a press conference, she announced, “…I won’t give it back to the Koreans unless they apologize. Not just to me but my country for giving it a bad image.”

She also added that she has no interest in the crown or its worth, saying, “I’m not even proud of this crown…I don’t want a crown from an organization with such a bad reputation.”

“Bad reputation” is right.

From the Guardian:

The Miss Asia Pacific World pageant, now in its fourth year, is no stranger to controversy. In 2011, Wales-representative Amy Willerton and several other contestants alleged the contest had been fixed after the young woman representing Venezuela was apparently named runner-up of the talent round before competing.

The argument with organisers – captured on video and uploaded to YouTube under the title “Confessions of a Beauty Queen” – was widely circulated in the pageant community.

Some of the contestants accused officials of asking the women for sex in return for higher placement in the contest, and claimed police who investigated the allegations were bribed.