Miss Universe Estonia Brigitta Schaback relinquishes title after disagreement with country's national director

"I am stepping down from the title of Miss Universe Estonia. My values and work ethics do not align with those of the National Director, Natalie Korneitsik," she wrote.

"My commitment is to women's empowerment and equality, and I will continue this work independently, without any further association with Miss Universe Estonia," she continued.

Schaback chose not to elaborate on the details of the disagreement.

After her announcement, the Miss Universe Estonia Organization issued a statement to clarify the circumstances of Schaback's exit.

"All participants sign an Exclusive Management Agreement that outlines standards for professional conduct and communication. Unfortunately, some of Mrs. Schaback's recent public comments were inappropriate, harmful to others and were not aligned with these professional protocols and contributed to public controversy," the organization said.

"Despite these comments being made prior to the international final, the Miss Universe Organization still permitted Brigitta Schaback to continue her participation on the global stage, for which we are sincerely grateful as we put in substantial effort to support her participation at this level," they continued.

They stressed that they aim to promote and present Estonia in a positive light and "not to be drawn into controversies driven by personal interests."

Despite fulfilling their responsibilities professionally and in accordance with their contractual duties, the organization alleged that Schaback "continued to act in ways that, in our assessment, did not align with the agreement, including making unauthorized negative statements about the organization."

"Certain obligations toward sponsors were also not met to the standards required by the agreement. In accordance with the agreement, the Miss Universe Estonia Organization initiated the formal process to conclude Brigitta Schaback's duties," they stated.

With Schaback's departure, Miss Universe Estonia first runner-up Emili Denneng is expected to take over her reign.

The issue comes amid the Miss Universe brand faces controversy after allegations of rigging the results in favor of Mexico's Fatima Bosch.

MUO president Raul Rocha has now addressed the accusations and insisted that the scoring for the competition is determined by the whole Miss Universe experience, not just by the final show.