A former beauty queen is “shocked” by a ruling she pay $5 million to a pageant she criticized, and the Ex-Miss Pennsylvania says the “most logical course” is to fight the high fine after speaking out about it for the first time.
Sheena Monnin is the beauty queen, and she wrote on a Facebook page set up to support her about the decision she says took place without her knowledge. In the post, Monnin appears to say (there is no verification the words are hers) that a hearing was conducted without her knowledge, and the outcome was a decision that she pay Donald Trump $5 million for claiming the pageant was or could be rigged.
Monnin began:
“Since I had no idea that an arbitration hearing had taken place until receiving notification of the judgment made against me, I would like to release an initial response … 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.”
The beauty queen continues, saying:
“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 … By their own words, the Miss Universe Organization’s contract proves the plausibility of my statements.”
The beauty queen told a local news source she was shocked by the ruling, and that she is in the process of obtaining a new lawyer.
