Mr International S'pore refutes claims he quit without warning as organiser plans legal action against him

Mhar Jayson Cortez refuted claims that he had quit the Mister International competition without warning after organisers claimed otherwise and threatened legal action.

The 30-year-old had announced his withdrawal from the 17th edition of Mister International 2025 via Instagram on Sep. 2, a day after organisers said Cortez would represent Singapore at the upcoming competition in Thailand.

Saying he was making this announcement "with a heavy heart", Cortez said that he had to take a step back from the title "to grow and protect" his well-being.

Beam Artistes later posted an Instagram story, which implied that legal action might be taken for his withdrawal:

“Contestants who have been selected to represent their country in an international competition should see it as an important mission and not change their minds as and when they like it. We shall be taking legal action against contestants who have breached their contracts with us and who have wasted our time, effort, and money.”

The company told 8days that Cortez had wanted to withdraw from the Mister International pageant due to a lack of financial support.

They said they were still having ongoing discussions with Cortez regarding the issue when the latter posted his withdrawal announcement with no prior warning.

Attempts to contact Cortez afterwards went unanswered, Beam Artistes claimed.

They told The Straits Times that they plan to take legal action against him.

Cortez takes to Instagram to dispute claims

Following the article's publication, Cortez took to Instagram on Sep. 5 to dispute several claims by Beam Artistes.

He said that the company had cancelled his participation in Mister International on Aug. 26 due to the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

Cortez told 8days he found it surprising because the conflict had already ended by the time of the call.

The Cambodia–Thailand border conflict ended on Jul. 28.

Beam Artistes suggested that Cortez join Mister Grant, but he decided to decline the offer. He left the group chat with Beam Artistes after confirming again that they were not going ahead with the Mister International pageant.

Regarding Beam Artistes founder Samuel Seow's claims that Cortez allegedly begged Seow for the title, Cortez said it was "absurd and ridiculous" and referred to a previous interview in May where Seow said the final decision on who wins a pageant is up to the judges.

Cortez also told 8days that a sponsor of the competition, Alluora Store, was the one who informed him that he had won the title on Jul. 18, which was then reported in the media.

Cortez admitted that he had asked Beam Artistes for financial help.

"Going to the competition would have meant being unpaid for the rest of the month. I am not ashamed of asking for support in this situation. I requested a loan because I needed to support my family," he wrote on Instagram.

Cortez is married and has a baby daughter, according to 8days.

Seow had claimed that Cortez asked for a loan of S$2,900 before he would be willing to fly from New Zealand to Bangkok with a stopover in Singapore.

Cortez said the stopover was necessary as he had no clothes, costumes, or preparation coming from New Zealand.

"To be honest, I could have asked them to fully cover the costs and been greedy, but instead, I asked for a loan with a promise to repay. It was their responsibility to understand my situation, yet they made the process unnecessarily difficult and complicated," Cortez claimed.

The 30-year-old said these difficulties were highlighted to the company even before the Mister International pageant, and he told them not to give him the title if they were not able to offer him financial assistance.

Cortez also alleged that he received messages from Seow that were "inappropriate and crossed professional boundaries" after the fallout.

"These messages contained threats, including references to my workplace and personal matters that should never have been brought into the discussion. He suggested that if I did not comply with his demands, my employer would somehow be dragged into the situation," he said.

In reference to Beam Artistes' threats of legal consequences, Cortez said he never signed any contract with them and that the only record they could point to was a Google Form he submitted when joining Mr Singapore, "something that clearly does not constitute a binding agreement".

"When I chose to publicly announce my withdrawal, it was not out of impulsiveness or secrecy, but because I could no longer subject myself to such tactics. To portray my decision as a failure to inform them is misleading; the reality is that their own approach had left me no safe or professional channel through which to continue discussion," he said.

"This will be my final word on the matter. I sincerely hope that moving forward, there will be greater professionalism, fairness, and respect, so that no one else will have to experience what I went through."

Top image via @engineermjc and @beamsearch.sg/Instagram