- The 74th Miss Universe pageant will be held at the Impact Challenger Hall in Thailand on Friday, Nov. 21.
- One of the pageant’s judges quit days before the competition, claiming the Top 30 were chosen ahead of time.
- He has dropped another behind-the-scenes bombshell, alleging that one of the people who chose the Top 30 is having an affair with one of the contestants. Two more judges have dropped out of the competition following the news.
Just when we thought all the drama surrounding Miss Universe couldn’t get any messier, it somehow did. After one of the pageant’s judges dropped out days before the competition, two more judges followed suit as news of a potential affair between a committee member and contestant was released.
Allow us to break down all the drama that’s unfolded over the past couple of days.
Omar Harfouch stepped down from the Miss Universe judging panel.
ICYMI, musician Omar Harfouch stepped down from the Miss Universe judging panel on November 17 after finding out that the Top 30 finalists were allegedly chosen by an “impromptu jury” without the original eight members of the selection committee.
He dropped the news in a series of Instagram Stories the following day, where he revealed that the unofficial judging panel 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.”
The Miss Universe organization responded to his claims.
After he posted a separate 11-minute-long video addressing his departure from the pageant, the Miss Universe organization attempted to debunk his claims and even posted an Instagram carousel featuring seven of the committee members in a “Beyond the Crown” segment.
Omar dropped another behind-the-scenes bombshell.
Once the organization dropped its “Beyond the Crown” list‚ which excluded Omar as he stepped down as a judge, he alleged that one of the members featured in the post was having an affair with one of the contestants during an interview with People.
“We are eight judges, supposed to come and to choose only between 30 contestants and not 136,” he told the outlet about the initial judging process. “I signed, when I signed my contract as a judge, it was to judge everyone. Maybe it’s normal for the people who only want to be on TV, or they are happy to be a judge, but I cannot. Because, I mean, I cannot play with the destiny of young girls.”
Two more judges—including the president of the selection committee—have stepped down following news of the affair.
According to the Daily Mail, another Miss Universe judge has stepped down from the panel, though it’s seemingly unrelated to Omar’s affair allegations. The judge in question is French soccer manager and former soccer pro Claude Makélélé, who revealed he had to quit due to “unforeseen personal reasons.”
“I sincerely apologize to the organization, the contestants, and everyone involved, and I hope to be able to contribute in the future under better circumstances,” he wrote, in part, in an Instagram post announcing his exit.
It’s important to note that the person whom Omar claims is sleeping with a contestant was featured in the Miss Universe organization’s “Beyond the Crown” post, where Claude was notably absent. (So, it seems that he’s in the clear on that front.)
Omar also revealed to People that the president of the Miss Universe selection committee, Princess Camilla di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, also stepped down two days before the pageant. She has yet to confirm the news herself.
