The crowning of Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch as Miss Universe 2025 took a dramatic turn when French-Lebanese musician and resigned Miss Universe judge Omar Harfouch publicly alleged that her win was predetermined. Shortly after the coronation on November 21, Friday, he posted on Instagram calling Bosch a “fake winner,” claiming that he knew the outcome a full day before the final show.

“Miss Mexico is a Fake winner,” his post began.

“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.”

He further said that Miss Universe President Raul Rocha and his son allegedly urged him in Dubai a week ago to vote for Bosch because “it will be good for our business,” adding that all details are set for release in HBO in 2026.

On Tuesday, November 18, Harfouch officially resigned as judge in this year’s competition and posted his statement on Instagram. He claimed that the results of the competition were rigged and that the Top 30 had already been chosen prior to the coronation day.

“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.”

“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. 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,” he wrote in the post.

Harfouch had already raised concerns through a formal statement, saying he sought legal counsel in New York to explore filing a complaint against the Miss Universe Organization. He allegedly saw irregularities such as fraud, abuse of power, corruption, deception, breach of contract, conflict of interest, and emotional and reputational damages. He cited an undisclosed “secret and illegitimate vote” that selected the Top 30 contestants out of 136 before the final coronation of this year’s winner.

“This vote was conducted by individuals who are not recognized members of the official judging panel, including at least one person with a personal romantic relationship with a contestant — a fact which constitutes a clear and serious conflict of interest and may qualify as collusion and manipulation of an international competition.”

Harfouch also described his emotional and reputational concerns, saying he felt used to give credibility to a competition he believed was already compromised.

“In addition to the structural fraud, I was misled and publicly used to give credibility to an election process that was already compromised. The emotional trauma, reputational damage, and the significant time and energy I invested — especially in composing original music for an event that violated fundamental principles of fairness — are not negligible and will be included in the legal claims for damages and compensation.”

He wished to “formally warn” all past and current judges of the competition, especially those who replaced those resigned, that being a judge may “legally implicate them in an act of global-scale fraud”. He said that their participation in a “manipulated outcome” may be subject to indirect legal consequences.

Following his departure, former football manager Claude Makélélé also withdrew from the judging panel, though he cited “unforeseen personal reasons” as a basis for his departure.

The Miss Universe Organization (MOU) responded firmly, clarifying that no unauthorized or impromptu jury had ever been formed. According to the organization, the official selection process remained transparent and in line with established protocols.

“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,” the official statement read.

Harfouch rejected the organization’s statements, claiming that MUO’s clarification itself recognized the existence of a “secret entity” he referred to, reiterating that he believed the competition process violated fairness standards.

The resignation of two judges added to the string of controversies surrounding this year’s edition, which included earlier tensions when several contestants walked out of a pre-pageant event after Miss Universe’s Vice President for Asiana and National Director of Miss Universe Thailand (MUT) Nawat Itsaragrisil made offensive remarks to Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch.

As of now, Miss Universe 2025 Fatima Bosch has not issued a statement regarding Harfouch’s accusations.