Joel Rey Carcasona from The Philippines has been named Mr Gay World 2021 after the original winner of the competition resigned from the role.
Louw Breytenbach, who represented South Africa in the global competition was originally crowned the winner back in October, but he’s quit the role reportedly over a contract dispute with the competition organisers. Carcasona was the runner up.
Western Australian Jordan Bruno won the competition in 2018. The competition used to be a leading event for gay empowerment, but in recent years it seems to have lost some of it’s luster.
The 2020 competition was delayed due to Covid-19 and earlier this year both the 2020 and 2021 competitions were both held online within a few weeks of each other. The 2020 champion Kodie Macayan is also from The Philippines.
Speaking to South African publication The Citizen Breytenbach said there were several areas of dispute between himself and the pageant organisers, inlcuding a clause in the contract that would have allegedly appointed them as managers for all his bookings both as an actor and a personality. Breytenbach says he already had an agent in the field of TV.
“I don’t need them to manage whatever TV opportunities I get. My suggestion was that they manage me based on opportunities pertaining to the pageant and my role as Mr Gay World,” he said.
He claims the initial contract mentioned remuneration but the document was vague and provided no extra details. When he was sent an amendment of the contract, it excluded any mention of remuneration.
Breytenbach said he also had concerns about what happened to money raised by Mr Gay World.
Mr Gay World responded to his comments labeling them as defamatory, suggesting they may take further legal action against the LGBTIQA rights advocate.
“Mr Gay World confirms it has received the resignation of the current titleholder, Louw Breytenbach from South Africa, following a contractual dispute, despite our best attempts to resolve the matter amicably and reasonably.” Mr Gay World said in a statement.
“We also note the unfortunate press release issued on Mr Breytenbach’s behalf which includes a series of defamatory allegations about the organisation and its officials.
“We strongly refute these allegations and thoroughly reject Mr Breytenbach’s version of the events as described. Mr Gay World is meeting with its legal team to decide what steps to take and will not issue any further comment for the moment”.
Joel Rey Carcasona is a health advocate in the Philippines who has been prominent in encouraging gay men to have regular sexual health checks.
OIP Staff
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