Big Picture
Kim & Kourt Take Bev Hills Plus, Daniel Radcliffe works his magic and Bruce Jenner blasts to the past. Get the latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (698)
- Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Photos Galore! New Pics From Their Post-Twilight Flicks! (606)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (504)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (398)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (396)
- Life After Breaking Dawn?! Maybe, Says Studio Head! (226)
- Morning Mail! Céline Dion Talks Whitney Houston's Tragic Death (222)
- Blind Vice! Nevis Divine's Sad Past (214)
Top 10 Stories
- Colbert Report Mystery Shutdown: Production Suspended Due to "Unforeseen Circumstances"
- Kevin Costner? Aretha Franklin? Bobby Brown? Latest Details on Whitney Houston's Funeral
- Diddy Remembers Whitney Houston: "She Was So Full of Life"
- Royal Feud Shocker! Sean Penn Slams Prince William's "Unthinkable" Deployment
- Real Housewives' Michaele Salahi & Journey's Neal Schon: Tareq Salahi Is the One Tormenting Us!
- Angelina Jolie Tears Up—Watch Her Get Emotional
- Josh Duhamel Not Coming Back for Transformers 4: Is Anyone?!
- Spoiler Chat Daily: A New Girl Baby on the Way?! Plus, Scoop on Vampire Diaries, Glee and More
- Jersey Shore Sneak Peek: Pauly D Pulls a Fast (and Dirty) One on Deena
- American Idol: Did Tent Girl Get Better? Who Passed Out Onstage? And Who's Headed to Vegas?!
Fashion Police
Leighton's Valentine's Look Plus, Ashlee Simpson and Cate Blanchett. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
Miss Universe Usurped
Apparently 2002 is just not the year for beauty pageant contestants.
Close on the (high) heels of the recent Miss North Carolina nude photo debacle comes this: For the first time in its 52-year history, the Miss Universe Organization has booted its queen.
Russian law student Oxana Fedorova, winner of the 2002 Miss Universe crown, has been de-tiara'd for breach of contract. A release from show officials says Fedorova has failed to fulfill the duties required of the title. When you accept the sash, you also accept a travel-filled year acting as a goodwill ambassador in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the pageant's official cause.
But Fedorova has apparently been camped out in her home country for a bit too long, shirking her worldwide smiling-and-waving duties.
"She needed to spend a lot of time in Russia," Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, told NBC's Today show Tuesday. "I believe her mother was ill at one point."
Then there are those who says there's more to Fedorova's dethroning than homesickness. Tabloid reports claim the 24-year-old beauty queen was also secretly married and may have had children--a big violation of all things Miss Universe.
Fedorova, however, insisted to RTR state television that it was more of an abdication than termination. She says she quit to pursue her law career in mother Russia.
"The duties of a world beauty are wonderful. However, my prime goal is my studies and career in Russia," Fedorova said. "I know I will remain Miss Universe for Russian citizens and for myself."
She also says the secret wife and mother rumors are not accurate. "I want a family, I love family, but it is a dream for me," she said. "I was never married. I have not had children. I hope that this dream will come true in the future."
Shugart also downplayed the rumors, however. "I honestly have no idea where any of that came from," she said on Today.
In the official annoucement, no mention is made of the puported scandal. Instead, pageant execs offer Fedorova a saccharine-sweet send-off.
"We are disappointed that it did not work out with Oxana, but we wish her all the best in her future endeavors," said Shugart.
Taking the place of the green-eyed Russian brunette will be first runner-up Justine Pasek of Panama, who will be crowned Tuesday afternoon in New York by Donald Trump.
"We are extremely excited that Justine Pasek will be wearing the crown and are confident that she will be a great Miss Universe and a wonderful representative of our company and its sponsors and charities," Shugart said in her statement.
Don't look for the 22-year-old Pasek, who was something of a crowd favorite at the show, to repeat the mistakes of her predecessor and hunker down in her native land. She says plans to travel extensively ASAP.
"I am looking forward to taking on the responsibilities of Miss Universe and moving to New York City. I will work to make this transition as easy as possible for the Miss Universe Organization and its supporters, sponsors and charitable partners, so that I can quickly and seamlessly get to the work that must get done," she said.
Her reign will be decidedly short, however. The next Miss Universe pageant will be held in Panama City next May, when she will have to pass along the crown to the 2003 candidate.
0 Comments
Now loading...