Omar Harfouch, a musician and former judge, revealed to PEOPLE that Princess Camilla di Borbone delle Due Sicilie, the president of the Miss Universe selection committee, has withdrawn from her judging role just two days before the international pageant is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand. This development follows a day after Harfouch and French soccer manager and former pro Claude Makélélé announced their own withdrawal from judging on Tuesday, November 18th.
The Italian royal figure, Makélélé, and the Miss Universe Organization have yet to respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
In a series of posts on his Instagram Stories, Harfouch alleged that the Miss Universe Organization had formed an "impromptu jury" to choose 30 finalists before participants from 136 countries even took the stage for the preliminary round. Hours later, Makélélé posted on Instagram to reveal that he would no longer serve as a judge, citing "unforeseen personal reasons."
"Regretfully, I will not be attending Miss Universe 2025," began his brief statement. "Thank you for your understanding and support."
In his announcement, Harfouch alleged 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."
On November 18th, the Miss Universe Organization posted a public statement on Instagram refuting Harfouch's claims. "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 statement read. "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."
Speaking to PEOPLE about two hours after the pageant published its response, Harfouch elaborated on his alleged interactions with Miss Universe officials. Upon hearing rumors that a top 30 had already been chosen, the composer said he confronted organization members, including Miss Universe owner Raul Rocha. "When I talked to the committee and to Rocha about this matter, he ignored me," Harfouch told PEOPLE. "He said, 'This is nothing Omar. Everything will be well, you'll judge. You'll see.'"
Harfouch previously mentioned the confrontation in his initial Instagram Stories and recounted how the pageant responded by publishing "a list of names associated with the selection on their Instagram page," though he notes that the post did not specify "the [roles] played by these [individuals]."
Harfouch continued to question the nature of the committee in conversation with PEOPLE. "They are not judges. They called them 'selection committee,' but selection of what? Nobody knows," he said. "It's published on Miss Universe called 'Beyond the Crown,' they decide. But why [is it] not public? Why [only] now are talking about it?"
Harfouch also expanded on his claim that the unofficial judging panel was "composed of individuals with a significant potential conflict of interest," alleging that a pageant contestant and one of the people included in the "Beyond the Crown" selection committee were involved in an affair. Harfouch told PEOPLE that he asked Raul to be "transparent" with the contestants but he allegedly declined to do so, prompting Harfouch to resign.
"The girls that will show themselves on the screen believe that we are going to decide, but in reality we'll do a fake situation," he continued. "They all believe in what they are doing. They have their families here in Bangkok. Their mother, father, and even cousins are all in the hotels. They pay for the hotel, they pay for the trip, they pay everything."
The former judge claims he spent three months working to compose music for
