Sheena Monnin, Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012 who competed in the recently held Miss USA competition in Las Vegas has resigned to her title after leaving a personal statement via facebook. 26-year old Monnin mentioned that she gave up the title due to disappointment in the system.
No exact reasons about her change of opinion about the organization were given.
The Miss Pennsylvania USA state director has not spoken on the matter and neither has the Miss Universe Organization.
Here is Monnin’s statement, in her own words:
“I have decided to resign my position as Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012. Effective immediately I have voluntarily, completely, and utterly removed myself from the Miss Universe Organization.
In good conscience I can no longer be affiliated in any way with an organization I consider to be fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy. I do not support this system in any way. 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.
Thank you all for your support and understanding as I walk a road I never dreamed I’d need to walk, as I take a stand I never dreamed I’d need to take.
After 10 years of competing in a pageant system I once believed in, I now completely and irrevocably separate myself in every way and on every level from the Miss Universe Organization. I remove my support completely and have turned in the title of Miss Pennsylvania USA 2012.”
Rhode Island’s Olivia Culpo was crowned Miss USA 2012 on June 3rd.
Updated, June 5 @ 11:00 am EST: The controversy has caused all kinds of reactions, from curious people who would like to know what happened, to defenders of the system who call her a “sore loser”. Monnin updated her facebook account on Tuesday with the following:
“Many people have sent me messages requesting and at times demanding that I come forward if I know information that has led to my abrupt and surprising resignation. I agree that it is my moral obligation to state what I witnessed and what I know to be true.
I will relay to you the reasoning behind my resignation. I witnessed another contestant who said she saw the list of the Top 5 BEFORE THE SHOW EVER STARTED proceed to call out in order who the Top 5 were before they were announced on stage. Apparently the morning of June 3rd she saw a folder lying open to a page that said ‘FINAL SHOW Telecast, June 3, 2012′ and she saw the places for Top 5 already filled in.
Thinking she was just seeing a rehearsal fake top 5 from a previous day she walked away, then realized that it had without a doubt been labeled as the Final Show Telecast, June 3rd. After the Top 16 were called and we were standing backstage she hesitantly said to me and another contestant that she knew who the Top 5 were.
I said ‘who do you think they will be?’ She said that she didn’t ‘think’ she ‘knew’ because she saw the list that morning. She relayed whose names were on the list. Then we agreed to wait and see if that was indeed the Top 5 called that night.
After it was indeed the Top 5 I knew the show must be rigged; I decided at that moment to distance myself from an organization who did not allow fair play and whose morals did not match my own. That is all I know about this. If this contestant would like to step forward as an eye witness and as being the one who saw the sheet with the Top 5 already selected before the judges ever saw the Top 16, then perhaps action can be taken.
As for me, I believe her words and I will not encourage anyone to compete in a system that in my opinion and from what I witnessed is dishonest.”
Rigged or no rigged, the eventual winner is most stunning and natural on stage. I like her bubbly personality and she was so charming.
I hope MUO will select the Top 15 according to the highest scores. No more closed door Trump Cards system. If MUO assigns one spot for “Viewer’s Choice” in a transparent way, then if they should make their Trump selection choices transparent for all to know too. Might as well be totally opened and transparent. Don’t do things half hearted.
I hope the judges’ scores will be shown on screen starting next year. If the MUO thinks that this will take away the suspense, then do the huge score board system at the ending part of the show, or if this will be too tedious to execute, then post all scores in the MUO website. Scores will be signed off by each judge and the accounting firm as well.
Good luck to Miss USA in Miss Universe…..
Atlast, a refreshing scandal for a change… somebody has RESIGNED, and not DETHRONED..
It’s very hard to believe that all of the judges will let the “fixing” happen, not to mention, the respected accounting firm that tabulates the result.
Next scandal, please…?
That’s why no California in top 16.
If they’re fair, Texas should wins.
What a shame….this is just an example of sour graping. I believe she just wanted attention from public media…girl, it ain’t gonna work!
Sheena!!! Sweetie, I’m sorry but you’re not beauty pageant material. Thanks for participating, I invite you to watch “Next year’s tranmission”. Regards
If anyone thinks the judges choose the winner on the night, then they are living in la la land. This has all been done beforehand and they know exactly who the winner is well before the show go on air.
We also cannot be that niave to think that there is not all sorts of favouritsm, politics and backhanding going on in the pageant world – it’s rife and always will be.
We have all known that this pageant was fixed from the moment it started having the organization “select” some of the semi-finalists. It used to be the top 10 based on prelim scores would get in. Now, MUO gets to “select” some of those. If they wanted to do a regular top 15, just let the 15 highest scoring get in. Not the top ten highest scoring and then randomly select 5. Unfair and unethical.
And if I were her, I would have grabbed that paper and showed it on the live telecast. I would have done something at the live telecast to embarass Trump’s old geezer a**.
HMMMMMMMMMM her statement say poor things about her. First, don’t tell me that you are part of the beauty peageant world and not know that there is lot of politics and money interest involves. Second, are you telling me that you felt so strong about this organization and you still agree to participate in the competition well at least until you found out that you did not make the cut… Bad loser you went for the free ride, party and food Bye Bye culera don’t let the door kick you in the butt…
OK guys…First we had the Ruthie…is there room for the ‘Sheenot’ – awarded to the contestant with the worse display of sportsmanship?
Thoughts?
C
I meant worst!!
xxoo
C
I’ve watched pageants for years. A “list” surfacing the day before a finale is definitely not new. I honestly think any organization, no matter how “honest” or how “transparent” they seem to be, I believe they already have in their mind who the winner is the moment the delegates arrive.
Miss World – for years, it is almost common knowledge or understanding that Julia Morley, or the late Eric Morley in the past, picks the winners before hand. What you see on TV, the finale, is more of an “awards night”. No more judging although there are judges presented. The Finale is more of presenting the winners.
Miss Universe / USA – they seem to follow the same case of Miss World lately. I mean in reality, that’s the reason why there’s a preliminary judging. I remember last year for Miss USA and Universe, the presentation show broadcasted was literally a “presentation show” because the judging was already held in closed doors. During the finale, the judges were just reading questions that the organization thought of, not their own. It’s quite clear that there were no more judging. Questions were already pre-assigned so as to make the winner sound like a real winner, while the most difficult questions were assigned to the rest.
I can only say that the Miss Universe and USA pageants in the 1990s were the most transparent… all the scores were televised except for the judges’ final votes, so you know how the final 3 contestants were picked.
As for Miss Pennsylvania’s charges, she didn’t see the list, someone else did. At least one other contestant were told about this list. So unless more contestants step forward and back up these charges, it is all still hearsay.
In any case, if this is true, then it may explain the exclusion of Miss Oklahoma and Texas from the top 5 despite their flawless gown presentations.
MWO transparent aggregate scoring system is wonderful. Prior to that, I agree that the final selections are somewhat questionable too. It’s only my point of view.
Read her statement again for all calling her a sore looser. She found out just prior to or in the middle of the show airing. Not days before and how can someone make an announcement until the act actually occurs. Otherwise it is not fact and just a concern .
A person has to be pretty naive to think that a pageant with this much clout and financial backing is not rigged. I can understand why Miss Pennsylvania doesn’t want to be affiliated with something that is not what it claims to be. She is still entitled to her integrity.
I find it interesting that this “list” was seen. I competed with her at Miss TX USA in 2006 when she held the title of Miss Austin USA, that year after the pageant which she (obviously) did not win, there was the same rumor of a so called “list” going around backstage. I did not make top 15 at Miss TX this year (which ok, whatever TX had 130+ girls in the competition that year and only 15 would make it, its pageant you cant expect to place everytime) With that said, I was backstage while finals night was going on. I never, nor did any of my close friends, ever see this so called “list”. Just food for thought, perhaps she is simply creating these “lists”, there was never any proof of the Miss TX list, and I doubt there will ever be proof of this Miss USA 2012 list
Just because there’s no proof of a list, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. They were just very sneaky covering up things. I know because I’m a manager and ashamed to say that I’ve hidden proof and was very sneaky to hide things that would incriminate me. One employee was on to me, so I had to find a sneaky way to dismiss him.
Oh please. Even the contestant who she said told her about this supposed “list” denied ever telling her such a thing. There goes her proof. So basically, this is all a lie. If there was a list, those other contestants who also saw it would’ve been as pissed as she was… but the only one saying anything is this delusional woman. Actually, I take it back — she is not delusional, she is just a blatant liar. I can’t stand Donald Trump but I do hope he really does sue this woman and win. Interesting that all her remarks on Facebook has been taken down.
I don’t think it’s all fixed before the show, but we all know since donald trump organizes that event, that the show is not fair at all because the miss universe organisation and donald trump chose each year the contestants they want to see in the semi-finalist group….So why do we need the preliminary competition?
I think that’s the idea Miss Pennsylvania tried to explain…
In Miss World, there’re always favorite but until the end of the show the suspens is here, we have not a clue of who is going to win…Do we all knew Miss Iceland was going to win in 2005? Or Miss Turkey in 2002?….
In Miss Universe there’s already a favorism for countries from america…there’s back to back crowning, Miss USA has the most crowning number, Japan wins in 2006, after everybody thought Japan was going to win in 2006…..Many many example….
So i’m not criticizing, i still watch the miss universe and usa show because they are great show to watch in terms of stage, runways, music….
But i can really understand the point of view of Miss Pennsylvania…
Many are criticizing her, but she’s brave, she’s one of few girls to really describe how it goes behind the scene in the beauty pageant world…
I also read that Miss California was not in semi finalists because she was already known from ANTM, so they didn”t want to select her because the audience would have thought there was too much favorism…So since the beginning her destiny was made in this competition…. And for every pageant we always read something like that…
Perhaps Miss Pennsylvania found out she placed in the top 15 but was displaced by one of Trump’s choices.
Tere was no way she would’ve placed in the semis. Both her Evening Gown and Swimsuit performances were atrocious. She may have a pretty face, but she had an ut-dated pageant look and was frumpy.
I have seen this girl in action. This is the pot calling the kettle black! She is not well liked in the pageant world because she is rude, back stabbing and as cold as ice. PA should have made sure she never won in the first place!! Shame on her for being such an all around LOSER!!!
Remember that Ines Ligron as well gave up Miss Universe Japan because she too got disgruntled with the MUO. Miss Universe is going downhill…
She should have resigned way before and let her runner up represent Pennsylvania. This sore loser has deprived another deserving girl her chance to be Miss USA. I wish her nothing but soreness… Sorry, but I feel really bad for her runner up.
Her runner-up can still try for the crown next year.
Her runner up could have represented her state in the nationals this year and next year another willing girl will go to the Miss USA finals. She took away an opportunity for another girl to be in the pageant.
I feel bad for her 1st runner-up who could’ve represented Pennsylvania had Sheena resigned before going to Las Vegas. I respect her decision and in some ways, she is correct about the MUO. It’s gone downhill and it’s totally about looks now whereas in the past, at least they had the semi-final interview competition. We don’t know all the details behind her decision to resign so we don’t know for sure if it’s sour grapes. Miss Finland resigned as well after Miss Universe because she said her organizers failed to properly prepare her. I wish Sheena well.
Sheena is just a sore loser. A common psychological reverberation, a ricochet rabbit, after losing in a competition.
She’s not a Miss USA nor Miss Universe type at all. She has big body frame to a short height, about 170cm only. The winner Rhode Island may be 166cm tall, but her bdy is very toned and well-proportioned.
And to sum it up, she is not that pretty. Yes, Sheena is not ugly, but her beauty is very forgettable if she will compete in Miss Universe.
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She should have just accepted her defeat. had there been any other reasons, she could have done the resignation days before the Miss USA 2012 finale or at least some few weeks after.
I was a professional pageant coach for 18 years — Teens, Miss, Ms. and Mrs. contestants. Had also been a local and state director, on the state board in two different states. USA, Teen USA, MAO, and several other, smaller, lesser known systems.
I’d planned on retiring after 20 years but I retired “early” (2009) because of things I saw first-hand, and due to things my clients experienced.
The Pageant World changed tremendously during that time and, when I retired in 2009, I no longer wanted to be affiliated with pageantry — no single system. Different things in different ones but all were enough to make me want out.
It doesn’t mean there aren’t still some good programs out there — there are. But there are so many variables at each level and things can change quickly.
I have a feeling there’s a lot more to it than this. I’ve heard bad things about the Miss Universe organization, and have experienced some of this issues after competing at one of a state prelims for Miss Teen USA when I was 15, I’m 20 now and have been competing in a pageant that prides itself in service and cares about each and every one of its girls and has wonderful values and high morals. Sheena is a beautiful woman, I hope she doesn’t stop competing. There are so many pageants out there that would fit her standards.
What timing, turning in the crown after she competed at Miss USA, but not before.
She was waiting to see if the information she learned about was actually true or just a “fake”. There’s no way she could have known this until the top five were revealed Sunday night.
One more thing, when she talks about “lacking morals”, could she be referring to Miss Universe org. recent decision to admit transgender delegates?
she would have had more impact if she had resign two days before the pageant, then that act would have generated international headlines. Now that the pageant is over, she is seen as a sore loser. All the pictures and videos I saw of Miss Pennsylvania in Las Vegas,she looked pretty happy. Now she comes off as a disgruntled ex-employee. Miss PA. really dropped the ball.
Did you read what she said? she said that DURING the contest the other contestant told her that she had seen the top 5 list the day before so they decided to wait and see if the list was the same as the top 5 they chose that night and it was, that’s when she decided that it was rigged… she didn’t know that two days before
News source like the Daily Mail said that the “contestant” she claimed to have seen this controversial list denied tellng Pennsylvania any such thing. So obviously, Pennsylvania is lying! Hello!
Good grief! The epitome of a sore loser. The only difference between the day she resigned and the day before that was the fact that she did not even end up as a semi-finalist. If she really believes that the Miss USA organization is all that she claims it to be now, she would’ve known that sooner and resigned even before the preliminary competition. I’m glad she resigned. In a few seconds, I would forget about her anyway.
Wait… who am I talking about?
It’s just unfair, given that her runner-up could have gladly replaced her to compete in the pageant!
She’s not beautiful at all.. Sore Loser..
She’s pretty! Compete to other pageant, forsure you can bring home the crown locally and International
yeah but she’s already 26!
She’s just a poor sport cause she didn’t win……. she just don’t wanna admit it. Oh well, the organization doesn’t hire losers. Better luck next time.
Its time to finish these useless competitions to please old men like Trump.
Okay, so why are you even visiting this website then????