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Which Miss Universe contestants accused Donald Trump of misconduct and when did they speak out?
Executive Summary
Several former Miss Universe/Miss USA contestants and other pageant participants have publicly accused Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual behavior at various times between the 1990s and the 2010s; the most frequently named accusers in the provided record include Temple Taggart, Bridget Sullivan, Tasha Dixon, Cassandra Searles, Samantha Holvey, and others who went public especially around 2016–2017 and in later compiled accounts through 2024–2025. The allegations span discrete incidents — such as alleged kisses, alleged intrusions into changing areas, and alleged groping at hotels or rehearsals — and were voiced in multiple waves tied to media releases and political moments; Trump has consistently denied all accusations and his spokespeople have called them false [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Who the pageant accusers named Trump — identities and headline claims
The record identifies several former pageant contestants by name and summarizes the core allegations they made against Donald Trump. Temple Taggart McDowell accused Trump of kissing her on the lips in 1997, Bridget Sullivan said Trump walked into a Miss Universe changing room while contestants were naked, Tasha Dixon alleged he entered a dress rehearsal in 2001 while contestants were “half-naked,” and Cassandra Searles, Mariah Billado, Victoria Hughes, and Ninni Laaksonen appear across accounts as former contestants who later accused Trump of misconduct related to pageant-era interactions. These claims were compiled and recirculated during political moments, notably after the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape and during the 2016 campaign, and in later summaries counting dozens of accusers [1] [3] [4].
2. When the allegations were first publicized and the clusters of disclosure
The statements by these women came out in several identifiable waves rather than a single moment. Some accounts were reported contemporaneously in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while a notable surge of disclosures occurred after the 2016 release of the Access Hollywood tape, when multiple women stepped forward with allegations connected to Trump’s pageant activities. Additional publicity occurred in December 2017 when Samantha Holvey, Rachel Crooks, and Jessica Leeds appeared on television and at a New York press event to call for congressional scrutiny, and media compilations in 2024–2025 aggregated and updated lists of accusers to totals of 27–28 women [2] [5] [3] [6].
3. How the accusers’ accounts differ in time, detail, and venue
The allegations vary by timeframe, specificity, and context: some describe single, dated incidents (for example, Taggart’s 1997 kiss or Crooks’ 2005 encounter), others allege patterns of intrusive behavior during rehearsals or backstage access across multiple years, and still others recount alleged groping at a hotel in 1993 (Beatrice Keul). Some accusations were aired in interview formats or press conferences; others were included in retrospective lists compiled by journalists that sought to tally all public allegations. These differences influence how each claim is perceived legally and publicly because some allegations are contemporaneous with the events and others were disclosed years later during politically charged periods, affecting corroboration and public response [1] [2] [4].
4. The responses: denials, political framing, and calls for investigation
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied all allegations, characterizing them as false or fabricated, and his representatives have echoed those denials. Some accusers directly called on Congress to investigate or to treat claims about Trump with similar seriousness as other high-profile probes; for instance, the December 2017 appearance with Holvey, Crooks, and Leeds explicitly urged congressional action and framed the disclosures in a political accountability context. Political actors responded variably: some lawmakers pushed for inquiries or resignations in related cases, while others dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. The interplay of legal denial, political advocacy, and partisan response shaped how these accusations were covered and debated [5] [2].
5. What remains contested, underreported, or aggregated in later summaries
The public record compiled in the supplied analyses highlights several unresolved matters: exact dates and contemporaneous documentation for many allegations remain sparse in these summaries; later journalism aggregated counts of accusers (27–28) but such tallies mix different types of claims and timeframes, which can blur distinctions between isolated incidents and alleged patterns of behavior. Some sources emphasize pageant-related claims while others include a broader set of accusers from business, modeling, and media circles. Readers should note that aggregated totals and late retrospective reports can compress different evidentiary contexts into a single number, which affects interpretation of scale and chronology [3] [6] [4].