Miss USA Faces More Allegations of Pageant Rigging

Miss USA Faces More Allegations of Pageant Rigging

USA 212 Olivia Culpo's big win was marred by allegations leveled from Miss Pennsylvania.  She may be carrying a cool demeanor beneath her pageant crown but the allegations over whether she won the title fair and square are as heated as ever.

Less than two weeks after one of the 50 women who lost to Culpo, Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin gave up her crown and claimed that the pageant was a "fraud," a second contestant has come forward to back Monnin's charges that the pageant's finalists were selected in advance.

The contestant, who is remaining anonymous, told FOXNews.com that she too heard Miss Florida Karina Brez reveal the list of finalists backstage before the top 15 finalists were announced on stage.

The Miss Universe Organization owned by Donald Trump and runs the Miss USA pageant has filed legal action against Miss Sheena Monnin for defamation and says the new claims made by the anonymous contestant are just as false.

The organization has vigorously fought back against Monnin's claims in the media.  "We're relying on the facts and the facts are on our side," Paula Shugart, the president of the Miss Universe Organization, told ABCNews today. "I don't put a lot of credibility in anonymous sources."

The only person the public has not heard from is Miss Florida herself who has only issued a statement denying she saw the list. Brez was scheduled to appear alongside Culpo on "Good Morning America" but backed out at the last minute.

Shugart confirmed reports that lawyers for the Miss Universe Organization have been interviewing each contestant. She echoed claims made by Culpo, however, that the only list that anyone could have seen would have been one of the lists used in the pageant's many rehearsals before the live televised show.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Sunday June 17 2012, 8:50 AM EST. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0