Wave of criticism of Miss Universe 2025 spreads
On the morning of November 21, Mexican beauty Fátima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe 2025. Traditionally, the moment the new beauty queen is revealed is often the most brilliant moment of the season – when the beauty, courage and efforts of the representatives of each country are honored. However, this year, that halo was overshadowed by a series of serious controversies, lasting from the beginning of November until after the Final night.
Not only was public opinion in turmoil, but people within the organizing committee also spoke out one after another, creating an unprecedented crisis of confidence in the arena known as the 'Super Bowl of beauty pageants'.
Right before the Semi-finals, Mr. Omar Harfouch (composer, member of the jury) suddenly announced his resignation. On Instagram and in an interview with America HBO, he accused the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) of lacking transparency in determining the results and favoring the Mexican representative.
After contestant Fatima Bosch was crowned, he continued to claim that the victory was related to the business relationship between MUO President Raúl Rocha and the beauty's family: 'Miss Mexico is a fake winner. 24 hours before the final, I said that Mexico would win because President Raúl Rocha was doing business with her father. A week before the final, President Rocha and his son told us that they had to choose Mexico because it was good for business'.
Although MUO denied this information, Mr. Omar Harfouch's statement caused a stir. These allegations continue to push the competition into the center of controversy about transparency, an issue that has been raised many times in previous seasons.
On his personal page, Mr. Nawat Itsaragrisil (Chairman of Miss Universe Thailand (MUT), who had a conflict with the Mexican representative in the meeting on November 4) also posted a meaningful status: 'There are thousands of words I want to say but cannot say them. I have done my best'. Although not directly mentioning the final results, this ambiguous statement makes public opinion more suspicious that there are many shady things in the process of Miss Universe 2025.
The protest movement is spreading on social media. The official Miss Universe fanpage is constantly flooded with angry comments from netizens. A series of posts are covered with 'angry' symbols, accompanied by harsh criticism aimed at both the Organizing Committee and the new Miss Mexico. The world's most prestigious beauty pageant has lost its credibility like never before.
Notably, these troubles did not appear after the finals but had been simmering since the beginning of November. November 3rd was considered the first 'explosion point'. When MUT (the host) promoted the 'Special Dinner and Talkshow' program, MUO immediately issued a statement confirming that this was an unlicensed event.
The announcement not only confused the media but also put many sponsors in a state of concern, leading to some units withdrawing, forcing MUT to announce the cancellation of the event. This led to the invalidation of all related voting results, including the large amount of interactions of the Vietnamese representative - Miss Huong Giang.
The MUT organization then reacted strongly. Mr. Nawat affirmed that the program was completely legal and part of a registered marketing plan. He even warned that he would sue MUO and on the same day filed a complaint with the Bangkok police, claiming that MUO asked the contestants to film commercials for an online casino company, an act that is prohibited in Thailand. The authorities then intervened, making the situation more tense.
Just one day later, on November 4, the conflict continued to escalate when Mr. Nawat publicly criticized the Mexican representative for being absent from the photo shoot. He asked her to stand up and explain in front of the entire hall, leading to Fátima Bosch burst into tears and left the meeting room. This move caused a chain reaction when many other contestants and beauties stood up and left to express their disagreement.
On November 5, MUO President Raúl Rocha officially posted a video refuting Mr. Nawat, affirming that they were considering suspending his role in MUT's activities. At the same time, MUO said that they would send a delegation to Thailand to take over the entire process to control the situation. In the press conference that followed, Mr. Nawat burst into tears, sharing that he was under a lot of pressure and that things had 'gone too far'. However, both appeared happy when they appeared on the Final night.
On November 18, right after composer Omar Harfouch withdrew, former footballer Claude Makélélé announced his withdrawal from the competition's judging panel, not attending the event due to "force majeure reasons".
Beauty contests are losing their core values.
It can be seen that the controversy at Miss Universe 2025 originated from the lack of unity between the host MUT and the copyright owner MUO, causing the organization process to be chaotic from the beginning.
From selling dinner tickets, opening voting packages to exploiting contestants for commercial activities, MUT operates on a very clear entertainment and business model. When this pragmatic approach is applied to a playground like Miss Universe, a conflict of interest with MUO is almost inevitable.
Second, the general context of the beauty pageant industry also contributes to the crisis. In recent years, the appeal of beauty pageants in the Western market has clearly declined.
With the massive emergence of TV game shows and gender equality movements, young audiences no longer consider this an attractive form of entertainment. On the contrary, the Southeast Asian market, which owns a passionate beauty fan community, has become the main driving force to maintain the heat for beauty contests.
To generate profits, many contests change their operating model based on revenue, interaction, sponsorship and commercialization of contestants' images. This invisibly turns beauties into "reluctant salesmen", constantly calling for votes, promoting brands or participating in events with commercial elements.
Some award categories depend too much on votes bought with real money, causing the beauty pageant to gradually lose its core value, which is often promoted as finding a woman who represents intelligence, courage, and style.
The story of Miss Universe 2025 raises a reality: Can beauty pageants still maintain their core values when the market changes? At a time when commercial factors are increasingly dominant and organizers are not unified in their orientation, the playground for beautiful women around the planet can easily lose its own purpose of existence.
Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/cuoc-khung-hoang-tai-dau-truong-sac-dep-miss-universe-2025-527615.html
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