Rabiya Mateo calls out Indonesian pageant fans who claim she has ‘star syndrome’
“This needs to stop.”
That’s what Miss Universe Philippines titleholder Rabiya Mateo said when she found out that some Indonesian pageant fans were “trying to bully” her on Instagram over an edited video that surfaced online.
With her arms folded, she is seen saying in the clip, “Girl, what are you doing? Like, you can’t accept that I defeated you in the first place? Like, you can ruin my crown, my moment, but you cannot take away the fact that I won this competition. I’m a Filipino and don’t mess with me!”
Indonesian netizens were quick to react to the video using their own language, saying she has an “attitude” and “star syndrome.” Little did they know that it was just an enactment of a possible “award-winning performance” that she was asked to do in a previous interview.
In a series of Instagram stories, the Miss Universe Philippines titleholder said that people need to stop making issues out of it. “In the first part of the video which was not included here was we talked about the fact that if Im gonna accept any role in the future I wanted to be an antagonist because I really wanna challenge myself,” she explained. “The hosts gave me a situation and I had a disclaimer that this is just a role before and after this video which was also cut.”
Mateo further stressed that she wasn’t pertaining to anyone in her mini skit. “I have never done anything to discredit or insult other candidates but putting words in my mouth and creating problems out of nothing is just toxic and it has to stop.”
After declaring that she has “nothing but love and admiration for Indonesians,” Mateo said that beauty tilts should be enjoyable. “We need to create a positive image in empowering women. I know bashers will always be there but can we not normalize things that are evil and not right?” she continued. “Hatred is an acquired behavior. We can surely unlearn it and start doing the right thing.”
The IG profile of the Indonesian beauty pageant account has been set to private. Pep.ph, however, reported that they have clarified in a separate post that it was cut from a long online interview with Mateo, adding, “Case closed.”
Article thumbnails from Rabiya Mateo's Instagram account