Rima Fakih Pole Dancing: Miss USA Stripping? – Scandal seems to indelibly plague beauty pageant contestants, as controversial images of the newly crowned Miss USA wrapped around a stripper pole have surfaced.
Rima Fakih won the coveted title as the country’s most beautiful woman Sunday (May 16) night in Las Vegas. Shortly after the 24-year-old Muslim beauty was seen cradling a dozen roses across her strapless white dress while balancing a shimmering tiara on her head, came internet photos of Fakih in red short shorts, a tiny tank top and towering stilettos balancing against a pole.
The images were of Fakih after she won the “Stripper 101” contest which was sponsored by a Detroit radio show Mojo in the Morning in 2007. Spike, the co-host of Mojo, said news of the pole dancing drew the attention of Miss USA’s parent organization, The Miss Universe pageant.
“The Miss Universe representatives called earlier today,” Spike told ABCNews.com. “They wanted to see if we have more photos or information. They couldn’t tell us what their intentions were and we didn’t want to give them anything that might cause her to relinquish her crown,” he said.
Spike called the inquiry “ridiculous” because “she’s wearing more clothes in the photos on our site than she was in those photos for the pageant.”
He said the contest was run by actual strippers, but the contestants did not strip. “They’re not naked. They’re encouraged to wear comfortable clothes,” Spike said.
It was the latest controversy for the Miss USA pageant. In 2009, the pageant’s winner was overshadowed by the comments of runner-up Carrie Prejean opposing gay marriage. She was later stripped of her title as Miss USA runner-up and as Miss California because of a sexually explicit videotape in which she appeared alone.
