WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Scott Brown, the United States ambassador to New Zealand, was investigated and cautioned by the State Department about comments he made to women while on an official trip to Samoa, he revealed Wednesday.

Mr. Brown, the former Republican senator from Massachusetts, told Fairfax Media that he had been instructed to be more culturally aware after the July trip in which he called guests at a Peace Corps event in Samoa in July “beautiful,” and told a woman serving food and drink at the function that she could “make hundreds of dollars” as a waitress in the United States.

But he suggested his comments had been misinterpreted and that complaints about them had been politically motivated.

Mr. Brown’s revelations come amid increased scrutiny of the behavior of men in high-ranking positions toward women after allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against the movie executive Harvey Weinstein.