The Miss Universe Organization, which is owned by Celebrity Apprentice Host "Donald Trump," won $5 million in a defamation lawsuit against a former pageant contestant, Sheena Monnin, on Wednesday.
Former Miss Pennsylvania, Monnin, said the contest was "rigged" on her social media page in June after being eliminated in the semi-final rounds of the pageant.
Monnin posted on her Facebook wall, "I witnessed another contestant who said she saw the list of the top 5 before the show ever started (to) proceed...I knew the show must be rigged. ... and from what I witnessed is dishonest," as reported by Reuters.
Trump had vowed to sue the beauty pageant for her false allegations, claiming that Monnin was a "sore loser," according to TMZ, and her intention was to defame the pageant. In the lawsuit, Trump said that Monnin's comments could cost the organization "significant damages."
New York Court Arbitrator, agreed with Trump and ruled in favor of the Miss Universe Organization saying that "Monnin claimed the pageant was rigged within minutes of being passed over as one of the sixteen semi-finalists, and before she had any purported factual basis for her allegation of rigging," as reported by Reuters. Judge Katz ruled that she acted in Actual Malice, thus winning Trump $5 million in defamation.
Trump later told the New York Post, " Going to arbitration was the appropriate action to take under the circumstances...And while I feel very badly for Sheena, she did the wrong thing. She was really nasty, and we had no choice. It is an expensive lesson for her."
The Miss Universe Contest airs on Dec.19, Wednesday on NBC, which will show a Live broadcast of the actual show being held in Las Vegas.
