The Miss Universe 2025 competition has taken another dramatic turn after one of the judges for this year’s pageant abruptly quit three days before the event this week, alleging that the 30 finalists were pre-selected by an “impromptu jury.”
On Tuesday, Omar Harfouch shared the news to his Instagram stories, announcing his withdrawal and expressing his “profound confusion and concern” about the 30 finalists.
“As I Jury member of Miss Universe, I wish to express my profound confusion and concern after discovering, via social media, that an impromptu jury has been formed to select the 30 finalists from among the 136 participating countries, without the presence of any of the real 8 members of the jury, including me, and that the results of this selection are currently being kept secret,” Harfouch began.
He said that according to information circulating online, the non-official jury was “composed of individuals with a significant potential conflict of interest due to some personal relationships with some of the Miss Universe contestants, including the person responsible for counting the votes and managing the results, which constitutes a further conflict of interest.”
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Harfouch then claimed he spoke with the Miss Universe committee about his disapproval of the preliminary selection, which he says was “conducted without the presence of the eight official judges, including myself.”
“They rushed to publish a list of names associated with the selection on their Instagram page, without specifying the role played by these individuals, creating even greater confusion,” he added.
A screenshot of Omar Harfouch’s Instagram Stories,.
@OmarHarfouch / Instagram
Following a “disrespectful conversation with Raul Rocha,” the Miss Universe organization’s president, about the “lack of transparency in the Miss Universe voting process,” Harfouch decided to resign from the jury and “refuse to be part of this charade.”
“I will also not be playing the music I composed for the event,” he added.
A screenshot of Omar Harfouch’s Instagram Stories,.
@OmarHarfouch / Instagram
Miss Universe Organization’s response to the claims
The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) issued a statement shared to Instagram following Harfouch’s allegations against the pageant.
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“In light of recent public statements and social media posts, the Miss Universe Organization considers it necessary to clarify certain inaccuracies regarding the Beyond the Crown Program and the official judging processes of the 74th Miss Universe competition,” the statement began.
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“On November 17, the Miss Universe Organization publicly released the official selection committee of the Beyond the Crown Program, an independent social impact initiative designed to promote leadership, service, education, health, inclusion and meaningful support for charitable causes. The program operates entirely separately from the Miss Universe competition and from the official judging panel.”
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The MUO said Harfouch’s published statements “incorrectly suggested that an unauthorized or impromptu jury had been formed and that the official judges had been excluded from the selection of finalists.”
“The Miss Universe Organization firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorized to evaluate delegates or select finalists, and that all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent and supervised MUO protocols,” the organization said.
“Given Mr. Harfuch’s [sic] expressed confusion, his public mischaracterization of the program, and his stated desire not to participate, the Miss Universe Organization respectfully acknowledges his withdrawal from the official judging panel.”
The MUO said that “effective immediately,” Harfouch is prohibited from “using, displaying, referencing or associating himself with any Miss Universe trademarks, service marks, logos, titles or registered properties, in any format, medium or communication, whether digital, written or verbal.”
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The organization threatened to take legal action against Harfouch if he continued to associate himself with the pageant.
After the statement was posted, Harfouch shared it to his Instagram stories, writing, “The Miss Universe comitte[sic] just recognised that they had done a pre selection of 30 contestants without the knowledge of the official membre[sic] of the jury. Wich[sic] is absolutely hilarious!”
Harfouch’s response to MUO’s threat of legal action
In a follow-up post following MUO’s threat of legal action, Harfouch said he had “officially consulted one of the leading law firms in New York to examine the potential filing of a formal complaint before the Office of the Attorney General against the Miss Universe Organization.”
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“The issues under review include, but are not limited to: fraud, abuse of power, corruption, deception, breach of contract, conflict of interest, and emotional and reputational damages,” he added in his statement.
Harfouch said the “secret and illegitimate vote” was held to determine “the Top 30 contestants before the arrival of the official jury.”
“This vote was conducted by individuals who are not recognized members of the official judging panel, including at least one person with a *personal romantic relationship with a contestant* — a fact which constitutes a clear and serious *conflict of interest* and may qualify as *collusion* and *manipulation of an international competition*,” he added.
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“In addition to the structural fraud, I was misled and publicly used to give credibility to an election process that was already compromised. The emotional trauma, reputational damage, and the significant time and energy I invested — especially in composing original music for an event that violated fundamental principles of fairness — are not negligible and will be included in the legal claims for *damages and compensation*.”
Harfouch went on to “formally warn all past and current judges” that “from this moment forward, participation in the final jury of Miss Universe may legally implicate them in an act of global-scale fraud.”
“Now that this information has been made public, their involvement could be considered as *knowingly participating in a manipulated outcome*, and may carry *indirect legal consequences,” he added.
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A second judge resigns hours after Harfouch
A second Miss Universe judge resigned days ahead of the pageant, set to begin on Friday.
French soccer manager and former soccer player Claude Makélélé took to Instagram to announce he would no longer be able to participate as a judge.
“It is with regret that I must announce that I won’t be able to attend the Miss Universe 2025 event due to unforeseen personal reasons,” Makélélé wrote.
“This was a difficult decisions, as I hold Miss Universe in the highest regard. The platform represents empowerment, diversity, and excellence — values I have always championed throughout my career.”
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Makélélé apologized to the organization, the contestants and everyone involved.
“I hope to be able to contribute in the future under better circumstances. Thank you for your understanding and support,” he added.
The news of Harfouch and Makélélé’s departures comes two weeks after Nawat Itsaragrisil, executive director of the MUO, reprimanded Miss Universe Mexico, Fátima Bosch, during a sashing ceremony, causing her to stand up and leave the room.
Several contestants, including the current reigning Miss Universe, Denmark’s Victoria Kjær Theilvig, Miss Universe Canada Jaime VandenBerg and Miss Universe Iraq Hanin Al Qoreishy, followed Bosch out of the room in solidarity.
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The MUO issued a statement following the incident and Rocha said he would not allow “the values of respect and dignity of women to be violated.”
Rocha said he gave the instruction to postpone the sashing ceremony, “and where this unfortunate incident took place, precisely to avoid any interaction with Nawat, who, in his constant desire to be the centre of attention, caused this incident.”
He also restricted Itsaragrisil’s participation in the events that are part of the 74th Miss Universe competition, “limiting it as much as possible or eliminating it entirely.”
