A controversial answer on stage.
A scandalous drug bust.
An unsanctioned private glam squad?!
Grab your tiaras and the popcorn: we’re getting into some of the ugliest moments from
our favorite beauty pageants.
In 2007, Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton became a viral sensation when she was
asked why Americans couldn't find the U.S. on a map.
Her answer was, to put it simply, a tangled mess.
"Some people out there in our nation don't have maps."
Upton instantly became a target for bullying and confessed that she contemplated taking
her own life, sharing that she went through a period where she found herself very depressed.
Since then, Upton appeared on "The Amazing Race" and has made several other television
appearances.
Alice Sabatini was crowned Miss Italy in 2015, but she raised a few eyebrows when she was
asked by judges which era she would most like to live in and answered that she'd like to
live in the year 1942, which, to put it mildly, was a tumultuous year in Italy.
According to The Italian Insider, Sabatini's reasoning for the year 1942 was so that she
could witness World War II for herself and that she would witness it from home, since
women weren't part of the military.
Her answer didn't sit well with people or the Italian tabloids.
Sabatini explained her answer further, adding that she wanted to experience life in her
great-grandmother's shoes, saying -
"I would have liked to live through what she had gone through in those years.
For better and for worse."
During the 2013 Miss USA pageant, contestant Marissa Powell, who represented the state
of Utah, stumbled on a question about pay equality in the United States.
Powell was asked about income inequality between men and women, and her answer unfortunately
made very little to no sense, as she replied -
"I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to try to strive
to… figure out how to create jobs right now."
She then ended her statement with something about the need to, quote, "create education
better."
Powell placed third runner-up, even after that awkward response.
The contestant appeared on "The Today Show" when host Matt Lauer read her the same question.
This time, Powell managed to give a meaningful response.
"It's hard enough already to earn a living, and it shouldn't be harder just because you're
a woman."
During the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, host Steve Harvey named the runner-up, Miss Colombia
Ariadna Gutierrez, as the winner when the crown was supposed to go to Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach
of the Philippines.
After being notified of his error, Harvey appeared next to Miss Colombia to announce
the correct winner.
"I can show it to you right here, the first runner up is Columbia, it is my mistake - still
a great night."
Looking back on that moment, Harvey spoke on the "Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart"
podcast in 2021 and shared that the aftermath was the worst week of his life.
However, Harvey was given the hosting gig the very next year and continued to host the
show until 2019, returning in 2021 and accidentally referring to Miss Paraguay as Miss Portugal.
In 2008, Laura Zúñiga, who hails from Sinaloa, Mexico, was crowned winner of Miss Hispanic
America but according to Reuters, was soon a smuggling gang suspect after her supposed
boyfriend was believed to be associated with the Juarez Cartel.
It was reported that Zúñiga and several men were detained after police located guns
and thousands of dollars in cash inside their luxury cars.
According to Time, Zúñiga was arrested on charges ranging from drug trafficking to money
laundering and was taken to jail for 40 days while an investigation took place.
Before winning Miss Hispanic America, Zúñiga was crowned winner in the pageant Nuestra
Belleza Mexico, which later cut ties with her.
According to Refinery 29, Zúñiga's wins also meant that she would be competing in
Miss International and Miss Universe, but all that quickly came crashing down.
Zúñiga was released, and in 2011, a movie titled "Miss Bala" was loosely based on the
former beauty queen's scandal.
In 2014 Nia Sanchez represented Nevada in the 2014 Miss USA pageant, and after her victory,
the pageant queen made several appearances.
While on "The Todd Show," she was asked to name the capital of Nevada… and she couldn't.
The host informed her that Carson City was the correct answer, and she awkwardly replied
-
"Thank you.
I was gonna say that, I was like, that one DJ host on MTV, back in the day, his name,
that's how I always remembered it.
[…] Carson Daly, that guy."
A source told FOX News that Sanchez had unsuccessfully competed to become Miss California and had
set up a paper trail so that it looked like she was from the Sagebrush State.
The Miss USA winner clarified to FOX 411 that she had indeed been a resident of the state
and had passed the requirements to compete.
After Tara Conner became Miss USA in 2006, she was quickly thrust into the spotlight
for all the wrong reasons.
The beauty queen was reported to have had an addiction to drugs and alcohol, and eight
months into her reign, tested positive for cocaine.
Conner's admissions were featured on an A&E special titled "Fame and Recovery" where she
shared that she had started drinking alcohol and abusing drugs when she was just 14 years
old.
She later stated that she abused drugs while participating in pageants and was on pain
pills while competing for Miss USA.
After she tested positive for cocaine, the then co-owner of the Miss USA organization,
former president Donald Trump, held a press conference stating that Conner was given another
chance and added that her experiences could help others with addiction.
Conner went to rehab, and 10 years later, thanked Trump in an article for USA Today,
saying -
"I will always be profoundly grateful.
He saved my life…
I have become a vocal advocate for recovery, and today I speak out for the millions who
do not have a voice."
Unfortunately for Donald Trump, his second appearance on this list isn't as heartwarming
as his first.
Venezuelan native Alicia Machado took home the title of Miss Universe in 1996, but in
an interview with "Inside Edition" in 2016, Machado spoke out about the verbal abuse she
suffered at the hands of then-owner Donald Trump.
"She weighed 118 pounds, or 117 pounds and she went up to 160 or 70, so this is somebody
that likes to eat."
He also allegedly called her names, including "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping" when
she gained weight after her win.
"Inside Edition" reported that Trump took Machado to a private gym that was packed with
media.
In an interview with The New York Times, the pageant winner said -
"After the episode, I was sick, anorexia and bulimia for five years.
Over the past 20 years, I've gone to a lot of psychologists to combat this."
Despite it all, Machado went on to star in several telenovelas and became the first Miss
Universe to pose for Playboy.
She shared with Women's Health that posing for the magazine helped her heal, adding that
she also signed and mailed a copy to Trump in an act of defiance.
Tensions between Lebanon and Israel found their way to the 2014 Miss Universe pageant
when a selfie taken by Miss Israel, featuring Miss Lebanon, caused an uproar with the Lebanese
government.
According to the New York Post, Miss Lebanon Saly Greige was threatened with disqualification
by her home country when Doron Matalon of Israel shared a selfie that showed the two
women and others smiling side-by-side.
The Los Angeles Times noted that with conflict and discord between the two nations, Greige
admitted that she had tried to distance herself from Miss Israel, but Matalon was intent on
wanting a photo together.
The New York Post also shared that Miss Lebanon's agent believed Matalon was trying to sabotage
Greige by taking the photo.
Matalon later shared a news article about the photo to her Instagram, where she wrote
-
"Too bad you can not put the hostility out of the game, only for three weeks of an experience
of a lifetime that we can meet girls from around the world and also from the neighboring
country."
Early in her career, Vanessa Williams competed in the 1983 Miss America pageant and won the
crown, becoming the first Black woman to do so.
However, as The New York Times reported, when her year as Miss America was almost up, Williams
was forced to forfeit her title and the coveted crown because Penthouse magazine had decided
to publish nude photos of her.
According to CNN, 32 years after the scandal, the Miss America organization apologized to
Williams during the 2016 Miss America pageant, where the actor was a judge, with CEO Sam
Haskell saying -
"I want to apologize for anything that was said or done that made you feel any less than
the Miss America you are and the Miss America you always will be."
Williams told Page Six in 2021 that although it might have shined a negative light on the
beauty queen back then, it didn't stop her from pursuing her dreams.
At the 2016 Miss Teen USA pageant, Texas native Karlie Hay took home the crown, but in a matter
of hours, ABC News reported that several disturbing tweets resurfaced from Hay's past which showed
the winner using the N-word, curse words, and threatening language.
Surprisingly, Hay did not have to give up her crown, but she did apologize during an
interview with "Good Morning America."
"It's embarrassing.
It's something I'm ashamed of, and I've grown up from that 15-year-old girl who used that
type of language."
Miss Teen USA's parent company, the Miss Universe Organization, defended Hay, but 2010 winner
Kamie Crawford told "Good Morning America" that Hay did not deserve her crown, saying
-
"If the decision was in my hands, absolutely, she would have to be dethroned, not necessarily
because of what she said, but the avenue in which she decided to say it."
During the 2009 Miss USA pageant, Carrie Prejean of California was asked by openly gay judge
Perez Hilton about the legalization of same-sex marriage, which was outlawed in several states
at the time.
According to the BBC, Prejean's answer shocked Hilton, who stated -
"I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman."
While it stunned many people, Prejean defended her answer and was ultimately first runner-up
in the competition.
But she would eventually lose her Miss California crown for other reasons.
According to Reuters, former owner of the Miss USA pageant Donald Trump stood by Prejean
for her shocking Q&A response.
However, when it came to Prejean not fulfilling her duties as Miss California, Trump didn't
stand by her.
The pageant's executive director Keith Lewis stated -
"This was a decision based solely on contract violations including Ms. Prejean's unwillingness
to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization."
Prejean told Sean Hannity that she believed she was dethroned as a result of her answer.
According to the New York Post in 2008, Lindsey Evans, a former Miss Teen USA contestant and
a group of friends decided to skip out on their $46 bill at a cafe in Louisiana, but
the blonde beauty forgot one thing — her purse.
After looking through her bag, police located her driver's license and marijuana and were
able to arrest Evans.
Today reported that her actions and her drug possession cost her the crown.
According to TMZ, Evans only had 10 more days left as the reigning Miss Louisiana, but her
actions were just too scandalous for the organization to allow her to keep her crown.
Miss USA 2018 contestant Genesis Davila of Florida was dethroned for using professional
hair and makeup stylists for the competition, which was prohibited.
TMZ obtained the incriminating photo of Davila getting her makeup done by a glam team, but
despite Davila insisting that it was an old photo, she was told to give up her crown a
mere six days into being Miss Florida.
Instead of just walking away, she took action and sued the pageant, seeking damages for
defamation.
However, the pageant's executive director, Grant Gravitt, shared that it was Davila's
social media accounts that gave her up.
Despite being dethroned, she would become Miss Florida again the very next year.
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