Man Storms Beauty Pageant Stage, Slams Crown After Wife Comes in Second

Spousal support can get a little out of hand. A man in Brazil stormed a local beauty pageant stage after his wife was named the runner-up, grabbing the crown and smashing it on the floor. The dramatic scene was caught on video at the Miss Gay Mato Grosso 2023 contest in Cuiabá last Saturday. Read on to find out what went down, including how everyone besides the furious husband reacted. 

Video taken from the audience shows the classic moment of suspense in any pageant—the final two contenders, Nathally Becker and Emanuelly Belini, hold hands right before judges announce who has been awarded the crown.  Belini is named the winner, and Becker embraces her. Suddenly, Becker's partner, Matheus Oliveira, is seen jumping on stage, grabbing the crown from the pageant's previous winner and throwing it to the ground in disgust. The crowd gasps as Becker reacts with shock.

Oliveira then escorted the runner-up from the stage as the audience erupted in boos. In response, he picked up the crown and threw it to the floor again. Security ultimately intervened and removed Oliveira from the stage.  Pageant organizer Malone Haenisch told Brazilian news outlet G1 that Olveira was aggrieved that his partner came in second in one of the country's biggest pageants for drag queens. "He did not consider the result fair and caused all this inconvenience and damage," Haenisch said.

In a statement, the pageant congratulated Belini on her victory and condemned Oliveira's reaction. "We reiterate our best wishes and wish you a glamorous reign, and that your activities may reflect the voice and desires of the LGBTQIAP+ community," the statement read.  "We vehemently repudiate the incident that occurred at the time of the crowning of the elected Miss, when the partner of Miss Cuiabá, who was classified in second place, invaded the stage and aggressively destroyed the crown," the organizers said.

Pageant organizers said Belini would be given a new crown and that the pageant would seek legal action to cover the cost.  The day after the fracas, Bellini posted an appreciative note on Instagram. "'I want to thank everyone for the support I've been getting through social media, all my fans, friends, team," Belini wrote. "Your support was and is being essential for me right now."

A similar incident went viral in 2021 when Pushpika De Silva, winner of the Mrs. Sri Lanka title, said she was injured after the crown was pulled off her head onstage by a former winner in a dispute over marital status.  The scene was broadcast on national TV. De Silva had just been crowned when the headpiece was forcibly removed by Caroline Jurie, the previous year's winner. She had claimed De Silva was divorced and not eligible for the pageant. In a Facebook post, De Silva said she was separated.