Miss Universe pageant has landed in another controversy just days after derogatory remarks by Director Nawat Itsaragrisil against Miss Mexico that led to the contestants walkout and an apology by Nawat later.
Now, a judge of the upcoming competition has resigned, accusing a “secret committee” of pre-selecting finalists.
In a series of posts shared on Instagram Stories, Composer Omar Harfouch announced his resignation revealing that an impromptu jury has selected 30-finalists out of 136 countries, adding, “Names of finalists are being kept secret.”
He added that none of the real 8 judges participated in the process, accusing the “unknown” jury of severe conflict of interest due to personal relationships with Miss Universe contestants.
Omar said that his concerns about lack of transparency forced the officials to post some names of the jury on their Instagram but the Miss Universe officials never specified the role each person played.
In response to the allegations Miss Universe released a statement dismissing Omar’s claims.
The statement read, “All competition evaluations continue to follow the established, transparent, and supervised MOU protocols.”
The added, “The organization firmly clarifies that no impromptu jury has been created and no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists.”