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Pageant contestant reacts to losing lawsuit

The Cranberry Township woman hit with a $5 million legal settlement spoke out against Donald Trump and the Miss Universe organization on her Facebook page.

Sheena Monnin resigned her title as Miss Pennsylvania USA this year after leveling accusations that the Miss USA pageant was rigged.

Donald Trump, who owns the organization that runs the pageant, took issue with her statements and sued her in a New York court. He won that lawsuit last week and was awarded a $5 million settlement.

Monnin took to her social media page Thursday and spoke for the first time since court ruling.

She said she had no idea that an arbitration hearing had taken place until receiving word that a judge ruled against her.

Monnin also said she was unaware of a clause in her contract that said Trump and other pageant officials had a legal right to choose the top five contestants and the eventual winner.

What the means, Monnin said, is that the pageant is indeed rigged and is explicitly stated as such in the contract.

“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 … I would have resigned,” she said.

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