Ousted Beauty Queen Wins Her Crown Back

A Texas beauty queen who was dethroned because of bad behavior and weight gain has won back her crown -- and prize scholarship -- in court.

Seventeen-year-old Domonique Ramirez told MSNBC a Miss Bexar County official told her to "lay off the tacos" and  was  "shocked" when she got an e-mail in January that recanted her title.

"I didn't fight for the crown, I fought for the principle of the fact," Ramirez said about the lawsuit.

During the two-month long battle, pageant officials argued that the beauty queen was required by contract to keep her weight at the time of the Miss San Antonio pageant, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reports she is now a size 2.

"Domonique is not fat by any stretch of the imagination," Pageant Chairwoman Linda Woods testified. "But her appearance in a bikini was one of the major strengths she brought to the title." Woods also blamed Ramirez for bringing up "tacos" in conversation that she was not racist, the San Antonio Express reported.

Woods and pageant officials claimed weight wasn't even the biggest issue. They said Ramirez failed to appear at scheduled events or showed up late, did not write thank you notes, wore a skirt "too short" at an event, and appeared at a bridal show in a wedding dress officials thought was inappropriate for a 17-year old.

But Ramirez' attorney said that the officials were being too harsh. During the trial, jurors passed around a picture of the petite teenager in a blue bikini from the photo shoot that pageant officials said was "unusable."

Ramirez is now preparing for Miss Texas, but Woods said she wants nothing to do with her. "I'm sorry, there's no way I would represent her as talent. She's trouble," Woods told The Associated Press.
 

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Selected Reading: Miss San Antonio Website, MSNBC, The Huffington Post

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