You may not be familiar with the latest scandal surrounding the Miss USA pageant, because it is stupid. But Miss Florida USA is involved, so now, so are we.
It all started when Miss Pennsylvania USA, Sheena Monnin, resigned her crown June 4, claiming the Miss USA pageant was fixed.
"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," she wrote, in the same paragraph that she mentions spending a decade in that same pageant system.
She now knows the game is fixed, she says, because she heard something horrifying, terrible, and insidious:
I witnessed another contestant who said she saw the list of the Top 5 BEFORE THE SHOW EVER STARTED proceed to call out in order who the Top 5 were before they were announced on stage. Apparently the morning of June 3rd she saw a folder lying open to a page that said 'FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012' and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in.
Egad. And that contestant who allegedly called the results? None other than Miss Florida USA, Wellington's Karina Brez.
And now, Brez is saying nah man, I don't know what that list was, but it's not a conspiracy:
"Looking back, it's definitely a rehearsal list, because from the names that I read off that sheet, it wasn't even the top five," Brez said, according to E! Online. "It was nowhere close to what Pennsylvania is saying, so her claims are incorrect."
It's not clear whether she was urged to comment by pageant co-owner (and fellow Palm Beach resident) Donald Trump, who said of Monnin, "I think her primary issue was that she lost and she's angry about losing and, frankly, in my opinion, I saw her for barely a second; she didn't deserve to be in the top 15."
But Monnin's not having it -- she was on NBC's Today show on Friday and said, "I know what I heard. There is no doubt in my mind that the contestant was serious when she laid out what she said she saw... I know when someone's telling a joke."
The Detroit Free Press reports Brez was supposed to be on Good Morning America yesterday but pulled out at the last minute. Though the Free Press also spelled Sheena Monnin's name "Shannon Minnon," so who knows what's going on over there?
Trump and the Miss Universe pageant, of course, are suing Monnin over the accusations.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL, SPORTS FANS. TMZ released texts this morning it says Monnin sent during the pageant. They seem to support Miss USA Olivia Culpo's assertion that the whole thing is "a silly little case of poor sportsmanship":
"This is f-ing rigged Randy," Monnin allegedly wrote. "Seriously? Colorado? South Carolina? I'm done. This is ridiculous. It's obviously rigged so the girl they want can shine; they kept several beautiful girls out for that reason."
Conspiracy theorist or not, at least she can use a semicolon. For a little context on the whole competition, here's a video about last year's contest and its supersmart contestants:
