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Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13

Miss Pennsylvania USA claims pageant rigged

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photo In this photo provided by the Miss Universe Organization, Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin competes during the 2012 Miss USA Presentation Show on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 in Las Vegas. Monnin resigned her crown claiming the contest is rigged, but according to organizers the beauty queen was upset over the decision to allow transgender contestants to enter. A posting on Monnin’s Facebook page claims another contestant learned the names of the top 5 finishers on Sunday morning, hours before the show was broadcast.

PITTSBURGH – The Miss USA pageant representative from Pennsylvania resigned her crown claiming the contest is rigged, but according to organizers the beauty queen was upset over the decision to allow transgender contestants to enter.

A posting on Miss Pennsylvania Sheena Monnin’s Facebook page claims another contestant learned the names of the top 5 finishers on Sunday morning – hours before the show was broadcast.

Monnin claims the other contestant told her the names of the top 5 she spotted on a planning sheet for the telecast – and she decided to step down as soon as those same contestants were named during the show.

“In my heart I believe in honesty, fair play, a fair opportunity, and high moral integrity, none of which in my opinion are part of this pageant system any longer,” Monnin wrote in one of her Facebook posts.

Monnin, of Cranberry, Butler County, did not immediately respond to a Facebook message from The Associated Press.