Beauty Queen Wants World Peace, $5m to Pay Libel Award

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Retired U.S. District Court Magistrate Theodore Katz has sided with the Miss Universe L.P. pageant operator in an arbitration against former contestant and Miss Pennsylvania, Sheena Monnin, awarding the Donald Trump enterprise $5 million in a dispute involving alleged defamatory remarks about the competition.

Monnin resigned as Miss Pennsylvania last June, complaining about the Miss Universe pageant: "It's obviously rigged so the girl they want can shine; they kept several beautiful girls out for that reason."  A THR, Esq. blog post noted that Monnin repeated criticisms of the pageant on the Today Show. When Monnin turned in her Miss Pennsylvania sash, she was quoted on Facebook as saying: "In good conscience I can no longer be affiliated in any way with an organization I consider to be fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy."

Something fronted by Celebrity Apprentice maven Donald Trump trashy? Monnin better hope all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed on her birth certificate.

Katz found that Monnin's statements were false and made with actual malice, in arriving at the $5 million award. He said she complained about the pageant being rigged before she had any factual basis for making such an allegation. Neither Monnin nor her attorney participated in the arbitration proceedings, from which Katz drew an adverse inference in his 19-page decision.

"TUOL" wonders how anyone who watches the swimsuit portion of the Miss Universe pageant can suspect anything about the contestants isn't real.