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Nudity, sex, drinking dethrones beauty queens
2006-12-16
Billionaire Donald Trump has won the backing of beauty pageant organizers for putting the current Miss USA on warning for reported misbehavior, with the industry keen to protect a sanctified image of beauty queens. Miss USA Tara Conner is not the first beauty queen to face the ire of Trump, who owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe franchises. In 2002 he fired Miss Universe, Russia's Oxana Fedorova, for failing to perform her pageant duties. The self-described teetotaler is now evaluating Conner's "behavioral and personal issues" after newspaper reports that the 20-year-old titleholder has been partying in bars around New York -- where the legal drinking age is 21. The property magnate and host of the popular reality TV show "The Apprentice" has called a press conference for Tuesday when he will reveal Conner's fate. "Mr. Trump is seriously studying the situation," his office said in a statement late on Friday, declining to elaborate on the behavior that sparked the review. "First and foremost he is concerned about Tara and wants to do what is best for her. Then he will think about what is best for the very successful Miss USA pageant." If Conner is dethroned, runner-up Tamiko Nash, Miss California, will take her place, and Conner would join a list of beauty queens who have fallen from grace for breaching written -- and unwritten -- rules after donning their tiara. Miss USA organizers declined to hand over a list of rules for their titleholder, but said she had to be a role model. Miss America, another beauty pageant institution, said titleholders have a brief but overarching contract to fulfill during their year of service which is made clear. The titleholder was responsible for representing the Miss America Organization and scholarship program in a manner designed to reflect its values and standards. The titleholder also had to "protect and enhance the image, good name and broad public acceptance of (Miss America)." These rules were broken in 1984 when it emerged that Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, had posed nude for photos that appeared in Penthouse magazine. Williams resigned -- and her career as an actress and singer took off. In 1973, Marjorie Wallace, the first American Miss World, lost her crown for dating too many men. Last month Danielle Lloyd was dethroned as Miss Great Britain when it was discovered she had dated one of the judges during the pageant and also appeared in Playboy. Pageant coach Heather Davis Epkins said she knows from her experience as Miss Maryland 1998 how much pressure titleholders are under when they are in the public spotlight. "But at the same time, you have to be aware that a lot is at stake because all the little girls are looking up to you," she told Reuters.
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