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Omar Harfouch

ABS-CBN News

<p>A Lebanese-French musician has resigned as a judge at the Miss Universe pageant, alleging that finalists had already been chosen by an &quot;impromptu jury&quot; prior to the international competition.</p><p>This marks the latest controversy to hit the 2025 edition of Miss Universe, following a dispute earlier this month between an official from host nation Thailand and the delegate from Mexico.</p><p>On his Instagram stories, musician Omar Harfouch claimed &quot;an impromptu jury has been formed to select 30 finalists from among the 136 participating countries, without the presence of any of the real 8 members of the jury, including me.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The results of this selection are currently being kept secret,&quot; he said.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:633px;display:block" width="633"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763533186158vlcsnap-2025-11-19-14h19m30s446.png" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="633" alt="Miss Universe judge resigns, claims &#x27;impropmtu jury&#x27; picked finalists ahead of event"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><em>Screenshot from Omar Harfouch&#x27;s Instagram Stories</em></span></span></span></div><p>Harfouch said the unofficial jury is composed of individuals &quot;with a significant potential conflict of interest due to some personal relationships with some of the Miss Universe contestants.&quot;</p><p>&quot;After having a disrespectful conversation with [Miss Universe Organization president] Raul Rocha about the lack of transparency in the Miss Universe voting process, I decided to resign from the jury and refuse to be part of this charade,&quot; Harfouch said.</p><p>&quot;I will also not be playing the music I composed for the event.&quot;</p><p>In a statement, the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) refuted Hafrouch&#x27;s claims.</p><p>&quot;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,&quot; it said.</p><p>The MUO also clarified what it called &quot;certain inaccuracies&quot; regarding its Beyond the Crown program, which might have been what Harfouch was pertaining to.</p><p>The organization described the program as an &quot;independent social impact initiative designed to promote leadership, service, education, health, inclusion, and meaningful support for charitable causes.&quot;</p><p>&quot;This program operates entirely separately from the Miss Universe competition and from the official judging panel,&quot; it said.</p><p>The MUO said Harfouch&#x27;s recent statements may have been due to a lack of understanding regarding the scope and nature of Beyond the Crown.</p><p>&quot;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,&quot; it said.</p><p>The organization said it &quot;respectfully acknowledges&quot; Harfouch&#x27;s decision to withdraw from the judging panel.</p><p>This issue comes weeks after several Miss Universe contestants walked out from an event after Miss Universe Thailand director Nawat Itsaragrisil got in a tense confrontation with Mexican candidate Fatima Bosch.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/pageants-beauty-queens/2025/11/4/walkouts-and-tears-as-power-struggle-in-miss-universe-looms-1926"><strong>READ: Walkouts and tears as power struggle in Miss Universe looms</strong></a></div><p>The 74th Miss Universe coronation night is set to be held on November 21, with Ahtisa Manalo vying for the Philippines&#x27; fifth crown.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-eHBsSVTgcU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>A Lebanese-French musician has resigned as a judge at the Miss Universe pageant, alleging that finalists had already been chosen by an 'impromptu jury' prior to the international competition.</p>

A Lebanese-French musician has resigned as a judge at the Miss Universe pageant, alleging that finalists had already been chosen by an 'impromptu jury' prior to the international competition.

Miss Universe judge resigns, claims 'impromptu jury' picked finalists ahead of event

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Miss Universe judge resigns, claims 'impromptu jury' picked finalists ahead of event

ABS-CBN News

Published November 19, 2025 02:28 PM PHT

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Updated November 19, 2025 04:49 PM PHT

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Miss Universe

Miss Universe 2025

Omar Harfouch

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