Reading mode Exit reading mode

Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA: Documented Sexual Misconduct and Dressing Room Violations

Trump bragged on the Howard Stern show that he would 'go backstage' before shows and that contestants 'are standing there with no clothes' — and that 'I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant.' Multiple former Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA contestants confirmed the behavior; for the teen pageant, the contestants were as young as 15. Trump's ownership gave him structural access that contestants could not refuse without losing their competition standing.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic actions that undermine fundamental constitutional or international legal protections at the structural level. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Various pageant venues, United States
Category
Civil Rights
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Potential
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
5 cited
Stable ID
trump-miss-universe-miss-teen-usa-misconduct
Victims
Adult Miss Universe contestants and minor Miss Teen USA contestants (ages 15-18) who were entered without consent while changing; contestants who faced structural power imbalance as Trump owned the pageant
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, Owner of Miss Universe Organization (1996-2015)— Miss Universe Organization

Key points

  • Trump told Howard Stern in 2005: 'I'll go backstage before a show and everyone's getting dressed and ready, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere. And I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant, and therefore I'm inspecting it... You know, they're standing there with no clothes. And you see these incredible-looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.'
  • BuzzFeed News interviewed four Miss Teen USA contestants who were minors at the time (some as young as 15) and confirmed accounts of Trump entering their changing area backstage
  • Former Miss Teen USA contestant Samantha Holvey, Miss North Carolina USA 2006, described Trump walking down the line of contestants and 'basically looking you over like a piece of meat' and was told he insisted on interviewing each contestant in his private suite
  • Former Miss Teen USA 1997 contestant Mariah Billado confirmed the dressing room incident, saying Trump had walked in on them: 'I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, oh my god, there's a man in here'
  • Trump's ownership of the pageant gave him structural authority over the contestants' competition standing, creating a power imbalance that made objecting or refusing access difficult
  • The Howard Stern comments were recorded in 2005 and published during the 2016 campaign — the same week as the Access Hollywood tape

Overview

Donald Trump did not just describe the sexual entitlement documented in the Access Hollywood tape in the abstract. He also described, in his own words to Howard Stern, a specific mechanism for acting on it: owning a beauty pageant.

"I'll go backstage before a show and everyone's getting dressed and ready and everything else," Trump told Stern in 2005, "and you know, no men are anywhere. And I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant, and therefore I'm inspecting it."

The "inspection" involved women with no clothes on.

The Miss Teen USA Problem

The adult contestants of the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants were eighteen and older. The contestants of Miss Teen USA were not. Multiple former Miss Teen USA contestants confirmed that Trump entered their changing area backstage, in some cases when contestants were as young as fifteen.

Mariah Billado, Miss Vermont Teen USA 1997, said she remembered rushing to put on her dress when Trump entered: "Oh my god, there's a man in here." When she and other contestants expressed their concern, they were told Trump owned the pageant and could do what he wanted.

The ownership structure gave Trump an explicit claim of access that contestants could not realistically refuse without jeopardizing their competition. It was a structural power imbalance: object to the owner's presence and you might not compete. The bragging to Howard Stern confirmed Trump was fully aware of the asymmetry and considered it a perk.

The Pattern

The pageant behavior fits within the broader pattern documented by E. Jean Carroll's jury verdict, the Access Hollywood tape, and the accounts of more than 25 other women who described similar conduct by Trump across several decades. The consistent element is structural power — ownership, fame, wealth — being used to override women's reasonable expectations of privacy and consent.

International law engaged

InstrumentProvisionWhat it protects or prohibits
Convention on the Rights of the ChildArticle 34States shall protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenArticle 2States shall ensure protection from sexual abuse and ensure accountability for sexual violence, including by powerful figures who exploit structural power

Update log

  1. Updated with BuzzFeed investigation publishing contestant accounts.

Sequence of events

  1. Early pageant involvement

    Trump develops a pattern of attending backstage at beauty pageants over several years before his purchase of Miss Universe Organization.

  2. Trump purchases Miss Universe Organization

    Trump purchases the Miss Universe Organization, which owns the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants. Ownership gives him structural backstage access and final authority over contestants' competition standing.

  3. Miss Teen USA — contestant confirms dressing room entry

    Former Miss Teen USA 1997 contestant Mariah Billado later confirms that Trump walked into the dressing room while contestants were changing: 'I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, oh my god, there's a man in here.'

  4. Trump brags to Howard Stern about pageant access

    In a recorded conversation with Howard Stern, Trump describes walking backstage where contestants are undressing, saying 'I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant' and 'I sort of get away with things like that.' The conversation is recorded but not published until 2016.

  5. NBC severs ties; Trump sells pageant

    Following Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants being 'rapists,' NBC severs its broadcast partnership with Miss Universe. Trump subsequently sells the organization.

  6. BuzzFeed publishes accounts of four Miss Teen USA contestants

    BuzzFeed News publishes accounts from four Miss Teen USA contestants — some as young as 15 at the time — confirming Trump walked into their changing area. The story is published the week of the Access Hollywood tape publication.

Sources

  1. Four Miss Teen USA Contestants Say Trump Walked In On Them Changing — BuzzFeed News
  2. Trump's history of walking in on contestants — HuffPost
  3. Miss Teen USA contestants allege Trump walked into dressing room — The Guardian
  4. Trump Bragged He Could Enter Dressing Rooms — The New York Times
  5. Trump on Ogling Women at Beauty Pageants — Rolling Stone

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

About our editorial methodology →

Related records

Similar by category, grade and tags.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Miss Universe and Teen USA: Contestants Allege Inappropriate Dressing Room Access

    At least 5 women who competed in Miss Universe or Miss Teen USA pageants publicly described Trump entering backstage areas while contestants were changing. In a 2005 Howard Stern interview, Trump explicitly described walking through dressing rooms at his pageants as a privilege of ownership, saying he could 'get away with' it. Former contestants described the experience as shocking and uncomfortable. Miss Teen USA contestants who were minors at the time of the alleged incidents described the same pattern. Trump denied the specific allegations made in 2016 while his Stern interview statements directly contradicted aspects of his denial.

  • Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    Sexual Misconduct Allegations: 26 Women Prior to E. Jean Carroll Civil Verdict

    The women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct covered a range of circumstances: models and contestants at Trump-owned beauty pageants, women at events and parties, employees in business settings, and strangers at social venues. The common elements across many accounts were unwanted kissing or groping in private settings with no witnesses. After the October 2016 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump said 'when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the pussy,' multiple women came forward stating the tape described what Trump had done to them. Trump called all accusers liars and threatened to sue them.

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    E. Jean Carroll Sexual Assault and Decades of Sexual Misconduct Allegations

    E. Jean Carroll first publicly accused Trump of rape in 2019; the legal case was delayed by Trump's claims of immunity as president. In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse (not rape under New York's technical definition) and defamation. In January 2024, a second jury awarded $83.3 million in damages for Trump's continuing defamatory statements. Trump called Carroll's account 'a made up Fake story' and said she was 'not my type.'

  • Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

    Ivana Trump's Rape Allegation Against Donald Trump — Deposition Testimony

    Ivana Trump's deposition account described a violent sexual assault during their marriage: Trump had been infuriated by the pain from a scalp surgery and, Ivana said, tore out her hair, pinned her to the bed, and raped her. The account appeared in Harry Hurt III's 'Lost Tycoon' (1993). Ivana issued a statement walking back the word 'rape,' saying she did not use it in a criminal sense but used the word in an 'emotional, not literal sense.' Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, when the account was reported in the press during the 2016 campaign, threatened a reporter and falsely stated that 'you cannot rape your spouse' — a claim that was wrong under New York law even then.