It is certain that becoming a beauty queen is not easy. However, being a pageant winner, you will get a lot more than just roses and fame. Here's a collection of beauties whose grace and beauty also brought them legal troubles, national controversy, and epic courtroom battles. From faking their own kidnappings to shooting their boyfriends, these women prove that even the gorgeous and glamorous can't live outside the law.
Katy Johnson, the two-time winner of the Ms. Vermont pageant successfully sued Tucker Max, who claimed he was in a sexual relationship with her. Johnson, who has promoted sexual abstinence since her teens, denied the stories, saying that Max posted the claims on his Web site to further his "career as an authority on 'picking up' women," according to the Associated Press.
Katy Johnson - Ms. Vermont pageant
Tosh Welch, the former boyfriend of Rebekah Revels, a 2002 Miss North Carolina pageant winner, e-mailed the North Carolina Pageant Association and hinted that he had topless pictures of her. Nude picsof Miss America bring in big bucks nowadays," Welch wrote. The pageant board threatened to terminate her, and Revels gave up the crown. Revels later successfully sued Welch and was awarded $11,000 in damages.
Rebekah Revels - 2002 Miss North Carolina pageant winner
Sharron Nicole Redmond, left, hugs her attorney Michael Schiavone on Wednesday in Savannah, Ga., after a jury acquitted her in the shooting death of her two-timing boyfriend, Kevin Shorter
In 2004, Cheryl Ankrah, a former Miss Trinidad and Tobago pageant winner, was dropped from theMiss Universe pageant for failing to manage her weight and follow a training regimen. A judge overruled the injunction, and organizers hastily held a mini-pageant, selecting Magdalene Wolcott to represent Trinidad and Tobago in the Miss Universe competition.
Cheryl Ankrah - former Miss Trinidad and Tobago pageant winner
Kumari Fulbright, who was crowned Miss Pima County (2005) and Miss Desert (2006), was also a University of Arizona law student and law clerk working for U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins. She was indicted on 5 felony charges on Dec. 18. The accused crimes were armed robbery, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and two charges of aggravated assault with a gun.
Kumari Fulbright was crowned Miss Pima County (2005) and Miss Desert (2006)
Kumari Fulbright was accused of kidnapping her boyfriend
Kalista Zackhariyas, 24, of Mississauga, a former Miss Vaughan who faked her own abduction and assault in what a Brampton court heard was a desperate bid to protect her child from a violent ex-husband has been sentenced to one year's probation and 60 days home curfew. A former beauty queen who was stripped of her title last year and prevented from entering the Miss Canada International pageant when organizers found out she was a single parent, was sentenced yesterday by Madame Justice Kathryn McLeod.
Kalista Zackhariyas - former Miss Vaughan
Janeal Lee, a former Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin, was stripped of her title when a local newspaper ran a photo of her standing while teaching a math class. Lee, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a scooter, can stand for short periods. Candidates for the crown have to "mostly be seen in the public using their wheelchairs or scooters," said Judy Hoit, Ms. Wheelchair America's treasurer.
Teacher Janeal Lee is seen in her algebra class Monday at Kaukauna High School in Kaukauna, Wis. Lee, 30, was stripped of her title as Ms. Wheelchair Wisconsin.
One year after Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America in 1983, she was forced to give up her crown after Penthouse magazine published nude pictures that were taken of her years before.
Vanessa Williams - the first black Miss America in 1983
Allison Williams, who was named Miss West Virginia in 2003, filed suit in 2005 against dozens of Web site operators over an Internet video falsely claiming to show her in a sex romp in the back of a news truck. Williams, who came across the video in August 2004 during her first week of law school, claimed she was the victim of mistaken identity.
Allison Williams - Miss West Virginia in 2003
Denise "Dee" Marie Henderson, who was Mrs. Minnesota International in 1999 and Mrs. Iowa International in 2001, was accused of lying about being disabled to collect benefits. Henderson claimed that her injuries, which resulted from a 1995 car wreck, prevented her from lifting more than five pounds or sitting for 20 minutes at a time.
Denise "Dee" Marie Henderson - Mrs. Minnesota International in 1999
