/images/ppid_59c68470-image-176354504526392431.webp)
What is the story about?
The 74th Miss Universe pageant has been plagued by scandal once again. Days before the Miss Universe 2025 final competition, scheduled to be held on Friday in Bangkok, a major storm broke out after a judge announced his resignation. The reason? Omar Harfouch, a judge and composer who created music for the event, claims that the pageant is rigged.
In a series of posts and stories on Instagram, Omar shared his “profound confusion and concern,” alleging that a 'secret committee' or 'impromptu jury' was formed to choose 30 finalists of Miss Universe 2025 before the contestants even participated in the preliminary rounds.
He also claimed that this unofficial panel included individuals with personal relationships with some contestants. The unofficial judging panel is “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,” he alleged further.
Concluding that he would not be participating in the upcoming competition, Omar mentioned that he resigned after a ‘disrespectful conversation’ with Miss Universe owner Raul Rocha.
“After having a disrespectful conversation with [Miss Universe CEO] Raul Rocha about the lack of transparency in the Miss Universe voting process, l decided to resign from the jury and refuse to be part of this charade. I will also not be playing the music composed for the event,” he added.
Soon after, French soccer manager and former soccer pro Claude Makélélé also announced that he would no longer serve as a judge. In a post on Instagram, he said, “Regretfully, I will not be attending Miss Universe 2025. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
In a statement on the pageant's official Instagram page on November 18, the Miss Universe Organisation said that it intended to “clarify certain inaccuracies regarding the Beyond the Crown Program and the official judging processes of the 74th Miss Universe competition.”
Claiming that Harfouch's comments were incorrect, it wrote, “The Miss Universe Organisation firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists, and that all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocols.”
The statement then publicly prohibited the former judge 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.”
The judging controversy erupted shortly after a viral video, livestreamed on Facebook earlier, depicted an incident between pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil and Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch. The clip featured beauty queens from several countries sitting in rows in front of Itsaragrisil. Speaking straight into the microphone, he declared that all of the women were supposed to "promote the host country."
Before this, Anne Jakrajutatip, who made history as the first woman to own the pageant, quietly stepped down as CEO in June 2025, amid financial issues with her company, JKN Global Group.
During the Miss Universe 2023 competition, Jakrajutatip said, “From now on, it's going to be run by women, owned by a trans woman, for all women around the world." Last month, Miss Universe announced that former diplomat Mario Búcaro, who was previously Miss Universe's vice president for international relations, is the new CEO.
In a series of posts and stories on Instagram, Omar shared his “profound confusion and concern,” alleging that a 'secret committee' or 'impromptu jury' was formed to choose 30 finalists of Miss Universe 2025 before the contestants even participated in the preliminary rounds.
He also claimed that this unofficial panel included individuals with personal relationships with some contestants. The unofficial judging panel is “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,” he alleged further.
Concluding that he would not be participating in the upcoming competition, Omar mentioned that he resigned after a ‘disrespectful conversation’ with Miss Universe owner Raul Rocha.
“After having a disrespectful conversation with [Miss Universe CEO] Raul Rocha about the lack of transparency in the Miss Universe voting process, l decided to resign from the jury and refuse to be part of this charade. I will also not be playing the music composed for the event,” he added.
Soon after, French soccer manager and former soccer pro Claude Makélélé also announced that he would no longer serve as a judge. In a post on Instagram, he said, “Regretfully, I will not be attending Miss Universe 2025. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
In a statement on the pageant's official Instagram page on November 18, the Miss Universe Organisation said that it intended to “clarify certain inaccuracies regarding the Beyond the Crown Program and the official judging processes of the 74th Miss Universe competition.”
Claiming that Harfouch's comments were incorrect, it wrote, “The Miss Universe Organisation firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created, that no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists, and that all competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MUO protocols.”
The statement then publicly prohibited the former judge 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.”
The judging controversy erupted shortly after a viral video, livestreamed on Facebook earlier, depicted an incident between pageant executive Nawat Itsaragrisil and Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch. The clip featured beauty queens from several countries sitting in rows in front of Itsaragrisil. Speaking straight into the microphone, he declared that all of the women were supposed to "promote the host country."
Before this, Anne Jakrajutatip, who made history as the first woman to own the pageant, quietly stepped down as CEO in June 2025, amid financial issues with her company, JKN Global Group.
During the Miss Universe 2023 competition, Jakrajutatip said, “From now on, it's going to be run by women, owned by a trans woman, for all women around the world." Last month, Miss Universe announced that former diplomat Mario Búcaro, who was previously Miss Universe's vice president for international relations, is the new CEO.
