Fans of the Miss Universe pageant are reeling after judge Omar Harfouch announced his exit from the event — and dropped a major bombshell about what allegedly transpired behind closed doors.
Harfouch, 56, claimed via his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, November 18, that he was withdrawing as a judge after discovering an “impromptu jury” was formed to select the 30 finalists from the 136 participating countries.
The composer alleged that none of the “real eight members of the jury,” including himself, were present for the selection.
Harfouch expressed “profound confusion and concern” over the decision, claiming that Miss Universe was keeping the results of their selection “secret.”
In a second social media post, Harfouch claimed that the “non official jury is composed of individuals with a significant possible conflict of interest due to some personal relationships with some of the Miss Universe contestants.”
He explained that “according to circulating information” he read, the person responsible for “counting the votes and managing the results” was one of the people with an alleged link to the contestants.
Harfouch claimed that he informed the Miss Universe committee of his “disapproval of this preliminary selection” on Monday, November 17, which resulted in the group allegedly rushing to “list a list of names associated with the selection on their Instagram page.”
According to Harfouch, the committee didn’t specify the “role played by these individuals,” which he said created “even greater confusion.”
Amid the drama, Harfouch opted to step back from the international competition three days before he was set to be on the judges panel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, November 21.
“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,” Harfouch concluded. “I will also not be playing the music composed for the event.”
The Miss Universe Organization issued a statement on Tuesday, clarifying “certain inaccuracies” that have made the rounds about the “Beyond the Crown Program.”
According to the organization, the Beyond the Crown Program — an “independent social impact initiative designed to promote leadership, service, education, health, inclusion and meaningful support for charitable causes” — was announced on Monday via social media.
The panel is said to operate “entirely separately from the Miss Universe competition,” which includes the judging panel.
The organization further claimed that Harfouch’s comments about the Beyond the Crown Program, which did select the 30 finalists, “incorrectly suggested that an unauthorized or impromptu jury had been formed and that the official judges had been excluded from the selection of finalists.”
Miss Universe insisted in its statement that “no impromptu jury has been created” and that the competition continues to “follow the established, transparent and supervised MUO protocols.”
“Given Mr. Harfouch’s 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 group wrote via Instagram.
The organization noted that “effective immediately” Harfouch is “prohibited from using, displaying, referencing or associating himself with any Miss Universe trademarks, service marks, logos” etc.
“All procedures remain governed by the organization’s highest standards of transparency, integrity and fairness,” the group concluded.
