Beauty Pageant Scandals

Carrie Prejean
The scandal for Miss California 2009 started when she was accused of breaking her contract by making public unscheduled appearances with organizations opposing gay marriage, and by not revealing the pageant producers that she had topless pictures taken while being a minor. It was on June 10th, 2009, when the producers, headed by Donald Trump, made the decision of taking away her crown and replacing her, citing "abundant violations and unfulfilling of her contractual obligations".

Eric Jamison, AP

Dayana Mendoza
In August 2008, some images where Miss Universe 2008 modeled naked for a jewelry catalogue surfaced on the Internet. Although her title wasn't really endangered, the story made the rounds on tabloids and news shows, while she defender her actions, claiming her nudes had been "artistic".

Vincent Yu, AP

Sofía Rudieva
A few days after she was crowned Miss Russia 2009, some pictures of her half naked started making the rounds on the Internet. Apparently the pics were taken before she turned 18, which caused a bigger shock. The producers decided to take her title away, and her dreams of representing her country in Miss Universe are now shattered.

AFP / Getty Images

Jennifer Hawkins
During a runway show in Sydney, Miss Universe 2004 suffered a 'wardrobe malfunction', as an slight oversight caused her skirt to fall off and she was left showing her red thong to an astonished crowd. Later on, it was discovered she had posed nude before the pageant.

AP

Kelli McCarty
After being crowned Miss Kansas in 1990 and Miss USA the year after, Kelli began a career in acting. When she didn't make the impact she expected, she surprisingly shifted her acting skills in a different direction: porn. She made her debut in the XXX industry with the DVD "Faithless: From Beauty Queen to Porn Queen", which premiered February 2009.

Bob Galbraith, AP

Zuleyka Rivera
While she was being crowned Miss Universe in 2006, the Puerto Rican beauty fainted due to nervousness, heat and exhaustion. Months later she was criticized for gaining weight so she had to diet. In June 2007, she was forced to leave an airplane because she insulted a flight attendant. She defended herself saying that is was all a misunderstanding.


Andres Leighton, AP

Lindsey Evans
She had only 11 days left to finish her reign, but Miss Teen Louisiana 2008 managed to lose her crown. What was the incident? The 18-year-old was arrested after leaving a restaurant without paying her bill and the cops found her with marihuana. When the pageant producers found out, she was asked to give her title back.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Raelene Aguilar
Quite an embarrassing experience Miss New Mexico 2008 experienced on April 2nd, 2009. The 27-year-old was pulled over for a DUI and was released after a 600 dollar bail. Hey, even beauty queens have to respect the "don't drink and drive" message.

WENN

Laura Zúñiga
It caused quite a stir in Mexico the news that the crowned Miss Sinaloa 2008 had been detained on December 23rd, 2008, along seven men, including her boyfriend Ángel García Urquiza, a presumed drug lord of the 'Cartel of Juarez'. The producers of the Mexican beauty pageant condemned the event and immediately took her title away, as well as the Hispanic Queen 2008 title she had won a few months back.

AP

Ingrid Marie Rivera
During Miss Puerto Rico 2008, she claimed that someone had sabotaged her clothes and makeup with pepper spray, causing her a bloated face and a nasty rash. After an investigation, police confirmed that she was telling the truth.


Thais Llorca, EFE