ACCESS EXCLUSIVE: Miss Universe Will Not Lose Crown Following Topless Photos Surfacing

 
 
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  • Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela after winning the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant
  • Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, poses during the swimsuit segment of the Miss Universe 2008
  • Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, wins the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant
  • Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza

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  • AP

    Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela after winning the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant

  • AP

    Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, poses during the swimsuit segment of the Miss Universe 2008

  • AP

    Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela, wins the Miss Universe 2008 beauty pageant

  • AP

    Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza

 
 

FIRST PUBLISHED: August 6, 2008 10:25 AM EDT
LAST UPDATED: August 6, 2008 10:33 AM EDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza will retain her crown despite a host of nearly topless modeling photos of the pageant queen, which surfaced this week.

“Dayana Mendoza is not in jeopardy of losing the title of Miss Universe,” Paula M. Shugart, President of the Miss Universe Organization told Access Hollywood in an exclusive statement.

In fact, the Miss Universe Organization president said that Mendoza’s photographs had artistic merit.

“We embrace and respect her success as a model and the artistic beauty captured in these photographs,” the statement concluded.

The photos in question show Dayana topless with her arms covering most of chest.

This is not the first time scandal has rocked the Trump-Organization owned pageant world. In December 2006, Miss USA Tara Conner caused a stir in the pageant world after she entered rehab for drug and alcohol use. Trump allowed her to keep the crown after receiving treatment.

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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