Beauty queen Sheena Monnin was admittedly “shocked” by the ruling in the Miss USA lawsuit that ordered her to pay Donald Trump $5 million for defamation.
When the former Miss Pennsylvania USA stepped forward to claim that the Miss USA pageant was rigged, she had no idea that the decision would cost her $5 million.
Sheena Monnin resigned from the pageant because she believed the contest was unfair and ever since she made that fateful decision tabloids and new networks went crazy over the allegations.
The 27-year-old beauty queen expressed her side of the story and why she believed the contest was rigged during several interviews. Unfortunately, the freedom of speech doesn’t cover defamation and that’s exact what the courts ruled.
According to the New York Post a judge ruled that “the method in which the Miss USA Pageant is judged… precludes any reasonable possibility that the judging was rigged;” therefore, Monnin’s comments were “defamatory,” “false,” and “showed a reckless disregard.”
The outspoken beauty queen was shocked by the ruling against her and in Donald Trump’s favor.
“I was shocked that was ruled against me, frankly,” Monnin said in disbelief.
She even took to Facebook to express her opinion about the court’s ruling.
“When I stated my opinion that the Miss USA pageant was rigged, I was not aware of the clause in the Miss USA contract which says that the Miss Universe Organization, Donald Trump, and others have the legal right to choose the top five and the winner,” she wrote in a Facebook status. “This is irrespective of any publicized selection process. If I would have put aside my excitement of winning the Miss Pennsylvania USA title and taken time to thoroughly read the contract that night before I signed it, I have no doubt that my response would have been the same as when I witnessed Miss Florida’s words come true. I would have resigned.”
She went on to admit that she will likely be fighting against the ruling since she “had no idea that an arbitration hearing had taken place until receiving notification of the judgment made against [her].”
So when it all comes down to it, the former Miss Pennsylvania didn’t accuse the organization of doing anything that they weren’t actually doing. She simply made the mistake of accusing the contest of being rigged because of these actions despite the fact that they were clearly written out in the contract.
According to the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization Michael Cohen, however, the power of the top five pageant officials to select the top five finalists was never actually used.
“It’s protection for the Miss Universe pageant and its owners,” he explained. “It has never been used. The judge’s decisions have never been overruled by Mr. Trump, NBC or the Miss Universe Organization.”
He also went on to add that Miss Rhode Island, who is now Miss Universe, was crowned Miss USA with no outside interference.
