Trump Wins $5M From Miss Pennsylvania in Miss USA Lawsuit
Instead of handing out money to beautiful women, Donald Trump will be receiving money from one after winning a Miss USA lawsuit.
Last year, former Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin accused the group that oversees the Miss USA pageants of fixing the contests.
After losing the Miss USA contest, Monnin said that the Miss Universe Organization, which oversees Miss USA, was "fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy," reports The Huffington Post. Monnin claimed that the organization already had a preconceived list of five finalists before the event even began.
In a Facebook post, Monnin said that she knew the show must be "rigged," and later resigned her post as Miss Pennsylvania. But was Monnin just being a sore loser?
That's what Trump claimed when he sued the former Miss Pennsylvania for defamation. Trump runs the Miss Universe Organization and in typical Trump fashion, he went on national television and said that Monnin was just suffering from "loser's remorse" when she made all her claims, writes HuffPo.
In a defamation lawsuit, Trump would typically have to prove that a false statement was made and published, and that the statement had the potential for injury. In addition, because Trump is a public figure, he would have to show the alleged defamer had the intention of hurting Trump and the pageants.
A private arbitrator seemingly agreed with Trump on these elements and awarded the mogul $5 million. The arbitrator, a retired district court judge from New York, found that "the method in which the Miss USA Pageant is judged ... precludes any reasonable possibility that the judging was rigged," rendering Monnin's statements false, reports The New York Post.
News of the arbitrator's award comes as the 2012 Miss Universe pageant is currently underway. This year's winner is set to be crowned during a live TV broadcast that airs tonight.
Related Resources:
- Donald Trump wins $5 million in pageant victory (USA Today)
- Tom Cruise Sues Magazines for Saying He Abandoned Suri (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
- Bristol Palin Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed by Federal Judge (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)