Second Miss USA Contestant Accuses Organization of Pageant Fixing
A second Miss USA contestant has spoken out supporting former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin's claims that the pageant is rigged.
The contestant, who chose to remain anonymous, alleges that she too heard Miss Florida Karina Brez reveal who some of the top 5 finalists were even before the top 15 have been announced, according to Fox News.
"I saw Florida backstage and she was very, very flustered and upset. I thought it might be because she didn't make the top 15 cut, but at that point she was able to reveal to me at least four of the five names who went on to be the top girls," the contestant told Hollie McKay from Fox News.
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"She couldn't remember the fifth because she was so upset. Several of the girls then started hearing through the grapevine about a list; a lot of people were upset," she added.
Monnin, who resigned from the pageant over the debacle, is currently being sued for defamation by the Miss Universe pageant organization officials after failing to retract her recent statements that the Miss USA pageant predetermines its winners.
Despite receiving threats from the owner of the organization, Donald Trump, Monnin maintains that the pageant is "fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy."
"Apparently the morning of June 3rd [Miss Florida] saw a folder lying open to a page that said 'FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012' and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in," Monnin wrote on her Facebook page.
"After the Top 16 were called and we were standing backstage she hesitantly said to me and another contestant that she knew who the Top 5 were. I said 'who do you think they will be?' She said that she didn't 'think' she 'knew' because she saw the list that morning. She relayed whose names were on the list. Then we agreed to wait and see if that was indeed the Top 5 called that night. After it was indeed the Top 5 I knew the show must be rigged," she added.
Trump immediately blasted Monnin's claims as ridiculous and gave her 24 hours to retract her statements before eventually filing a legal complaint when she refused.
"What I really want out of this is for the truth to be known. I want to make sure I stand up for what I know is right. I know what I heard. There's no doubt in my mind that the contestant was serious when she laid out what she said she saw," Monnin told NBC's Ann Curry.
Trump also spoke to the "Today Show" and painted Monnin as a sore loser who is being dishonest.
"We're going to be suing her now – she made a very false charge and she knows it's a false charge," Trump said.
"I think her primary issue is that she lost and she's angry about losing. And frankly, in my opinion, I saw her barely a second and she didn't deserve to be in the top 15," he added.
