Marisa Butler, 27, who was the winner of Miss World America title in 2018, said that winning the crown was  her most “horrible” experience. She also spoke about the year she served as queen, which she said left her feeling “silenced and belittled.”

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“Being Miss World America was horrible, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” she told Jezebel in an interview.

Butler, in the interview, said that at a dinner in October 2019, Jacob Arabo, a sponsor of the Miss World America pageant and the owner of the jewellery company Jacob & Co., took her chopsticks and hand-fed her sushi, despite her being noticeably uncomfortable.

However, a representative for Jacob & Co. denied Butler’s claim in a statement to Jezebel. 

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Butler also told Jezebel that Michael Blakely, the national director of the pageant, witnessed the incident and did not intervene. “Michael was sitting right next to me and he was laughing along with Jacob,” she told Jezebel.

“He wasn’t sticking up for me or saying how inappropriate this was, even though it was very clear that I was in distress and I was uncomfortable,” she went on to tell the outlet. “I remember I just wanted to disappear.”

On the other hand, a representative for Miss World America told  Insider that “MWA chooses not to comment on hearsay, rumors, speculations, exaggerations, embellishments, nor any other unsubstantiated matters.”

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The representative went on to say that no one from the organization has ever “witnessed any inappropriate behavior demonstrated towards any past or present contestants, representatives, partners, vendors, nor anyone directly or indirectly associated with the company.”