A resigned Miss Universe judge has alleged the results of the just-concluded pageant were rigged.

Resigned Miss Universe judge alleges pageant results are rigged

On social media Friday, Lebanese-French musician Omar Harfouch, a Miss Universe judge who resigned two days before the coronation event, called the pageant’s winner Fatima Bosch a “fake Miss Universe.”

“I Omar Harfouch declared yesterday exclusively on the Americain HBO, 24 hours before the Miss Universe final, that Miss Mexico would win—because Miss Universe owner Raúl Rocha is in business with Fatima Bosch’s father,” Harfouch said.

In his social media post, Harfouch narrated how “a week ago in Dubai,” Rocha and his son “urged” him to vote for Bosch “because they need her to win ‘because it will be good for our business,’ they said to me!”

Harfouch is one of two Miss Universe judges who resigned two days before the coronation event.

On Instagram, he announced his resignation, saying “a *secret vote* was held to pre-select 30 contestants out of the 136.”

Harfouch added, “This vote was carried out by individuals who are not official members of the jury, myself included. To this day, no one knows who the selected 30 are, except one individual who holds the results. This same person is affiliated with a national organization of a participating country — which is a clear conflict of interest.”

According to Harfouch, “I could not stand before the public and television cameras, pretending to legitimize a vote I never took part in. Some of the countries eliminated through this process could be at war, discriminated against, or geopolitically sensitive.”

He added viewers would assume the jury made these decisions “and I cannot bear responsibility for a process I did not participate in. Pretending otherwise would be dishonest.”

Shortly after his resignation, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) released a statement, saying “His comments 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,” it said.

MUO acknowledged his resignation and said Harfouch is not allowed to use, display, or reference himself with the pageant’s trademarks.

In its statement, MUO clarified the Beyond the Crown initiative “operates entirely separately from the Miss Universe competition and from the official judging panel.”

Apart from Harfouch, French football manager Claude Makélélé also resigned due to “unforeseen personal reasons,” he said on Instagram.

“This was a difficult decision, as I hold Miss Universe in the highest regard. The platform represents empowerment, diversity, and excellence — values I have always championed throughout my career,” he said, apologizing to the pageant, the contestants, and everybody involved “and I hope to be able to contribute in the future under better circumstances.”

 

 

Miss Universe 2025 has been mired with controversies, with Bosch caught in the center of it all.

At the start of the competition, Miss Universe Thailand (MUT) posted a video where MUT National Director Nawat Itsaragrisil was seen calling security after an exchange with someone off-screen.

The official social media accounts of Miss Universe Mexico soon issued a statement saying what happened to Bosch was “unacceptable.”

Nawat apologized, before the MUO restricted his participation.

Bosch won the coveted crown, with Phiilippine bet Ahtisa Manalo finishing as 3rd runner-up.