Did Trump face any lawsuits related to his ownership of the Miss Universe pageants?
Executive summary
Donald Trump was involved in multiple lawsuits connected to his ownership of the Miss Universe/Miss USA/Miss Teen USA pageant enterprises—both as plaintiff and defendant—and the legal entanglements helped reshape ownership and broadcast arrangements for the franchises [1][2]. Beyond commercial litigation over broadcast and contractual disputes, the pageants were the subject of high-profile defamation and misconduct allegations that generated separate legal actions and public complaints [2][3].
1. Trump as plaintiff: major suits against broadcasters and partners
Trump sued Univision and threatened litigation against NBC after both broadcasters severed ties with the pageants following his 2015 remarks about Mexican immigrants; his $500 million suit against Univision was later settled, resolving the dispute over Univision’s decision not to air Miss USA and Miss Universe [1][4]. NBC moved to cut ties and announced it would no longer broadcast the pageants, prompting further legal maneuvering and ultimately a negotiated settlement with NBC that included Trump buying out NBC’s stake in the Miss Universe Organization, according to contemporaneous trade reporting [5][6].
2. Trump as defendant/plaintiff in contestant defamation battles
The Miss Universe organization—under Trump’s ownership at the time—sued former contestant Sheena Monnin for defamation after she publicly claimed the Miss USA contest was rigged; that litigation drew national attention and Monnin reported facing a $10 million claim, while the organization later secured a $5 million defamation award in a separate action involving rigging allegations [7][2]. Reuters reported the organization won $5 million in damages in a suit against a former beauty queen who accused the pageant of rigging, underscoring that the pageant (and by extension its ownership) used litigation to push back against public accusations [2].
3. Settlements, buyouts and ownership trades shaped by litigation
Legal disputes around the pageants and Trump’s broader business troubles influenced shifts in ownership: Trump at one point traded or relinquished equity stakes tied to settlements and restructuring, and he later sold the Miss Universe Organization to WME/IMG in 2015 after the broadcasting fallout; Fortune reported Trump had traded a 25% stake in the pageant to settle a separate casino-related lawsuit, illustrating how litigation outside the pageant sphere also affected his holdings [8][9]. Deadline and other outlets documented Trump’s settlement activity and his subsequent purchase of NBC’s share before selling the whole enterprise, showing litigation and commercial responses were tightly intertwined [6][9].
4. Allegations of misconduct and related complaints (distinct from the commercial suits)
Multiple former Miss USA and Miss Teen USA contestants publicly accused Trump of entering dressing rooms or otherwise behaving inappropriately while he owned the pageants; Trump himself made statements on Howard Stern describing entering contestants’ dressing rooms, and those public allegations contributed to reputational pressure even when they did not immediately translate into parallel civil suits tied to pageant ownership in the reporting provided [3]. International and media outlets have reported specific complaints and sensational claims—some of which spawned public complaints or media coverage—though the sources in this dataset do not uniformly document civil lawsuits filed by contestants specifically over those misconduct allegations [3][10].
5. Competing narratives, undisclosed terms, and hidden agendas
News coverage shows competing incentives: broadcasters and networks moved quickly to distance themselves after political controversy, likely balancing ratings, advertiser pressure, and reputational risk [5]; Trump’s large-dollar suits—publicly seeking $500 million from Univision—can be read both as legal redress and a strategic signaling tactic in public and political arenas [1][9]. Many settlements were confidential or reported in summary terms, leaving key details—such as exact terms of NBC settlements or the internal deals that traded stakes for legal peace—only partially visible in public reporting [6][8].
6. Bottom line
Yes: Donald Trump faced and initiated several lawsuits directly tied to his ownership of the Miss Universe/Miss USA pageants—most notably the $500 million suit against Univision that settled and high-profile defamation litigation involving former contestants and the Miss Universe organization that produced a multi-million-dollar damages outcome—and those legal battles helped trigger ownership changes and broadcast separations [1][2][6]. The public record in these sources also records numerous allegations of misconduct by Trump while owning the pageants, but the documents provided here do not demonstrate a resolved stream of civil suits by contestants over those misconduct claims within this set of reporting [3][10].