French-Lebanese musician Omar Harfouch, who resigned from his role as a judge for this year’s Miss Universe pageant, called Mexico’s Fatima Bosch, the newly crowned Miss Universe 2025, a “fake” winner.
Shortly after the pageant’s finale in Thailand on Friday morning, Harfouch shared an Instagram story stating: “Miss Mexico is a FAKE Miss Universe and I will tell you why.”
Bosch, 25, won the title while representatives from Thailand, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Ivory Coast were named first, second, third, and fourth runners-up, respectively.
Harfouch alleged that Bosch’s victory was orchestrated by Miss Universe owner Raul Rocha in collaboration with Bosch’s father.
“I, Omar Harfouch, declared yesterday exclusively on HBO America, 24 hours before the Miss Universe final, that Miss Mexico would win, because Miss Universe owner Raul Rocha is in business with Fatima Bosch’s father,” he wrote in another Instagram post pinned to the top of his profile.
He further claimed that Rocha and his son urged him to vote for Bosch “because it will be good for our business” and added that all relevant details will be shared via HBO in May 2026.
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Harfouch resigned from the original eight-member judging panel on Nov. 18, citing a “disrespectful conversation” with Rocha and alleging that an “impromptu jury” had pre-selected the top 30 finalists prior to the competition, according to the Daily Mail.
The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) has denied these allegations, stating that: “[MUO] 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.”
In addition to Harfouch, former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makélélé also withdrew from the judging panel prior to the finale, citing “unforeseen personal reasons.”
Earlier in the competition, Bosch was involved in a public dispute with then-Miss Universe executive Nawat Itsaragrisil, who criticized her for not posting promotional content about host country Thailand during the early rounds of the pageant.
MSN
