Two judges from the upcoming Miss Universe pageant have resigned, raising concerns about the selection process. Omar Harfouch, a Lebanese-French musician, announced his departure from the jury via Instagram. He claimed that an unofficial “impromptu jury” had pre-selected finalists from the 136 participating countries without involving the official judges. Harfouch stated he learned about this development through social media and suggested that members of this unofficial jury may have conflicts of interest related to some contestants. However, he did not provide details on how this jury would operate or its authority over the official jury.
Shortly after Harfouch’s announcement, French football manager Claude Makélélé also resigned, citing “unforeseen personal reasons.” This follows a prior incident in which several contestants walked out of a pre-pageant event due to comments made by Thailand’s director, Nawat Itsaragrisil, regarding promotional content.
In response to Harfouch’s allegations, the Miss Universe Organisation issued a statement denying the existence of any external group authorized to evaluate contestants or select finalists. They suggested that Harfouch might be conflating these allegations with the “Beyond the Crown” programme, an independent initiative that has its own selection committee and was recently announced.
Makélélé characterized his resignation as difficult but expressed his respect for the values represented by Miss Universe, including empowerment and diversity. The Miss Universe Organisation has faced criticism after the incident involving Itsaragrisil, prompting them to send a delegation of international executives to take charge of the pageant’s operations.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmxgymr8ewo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss