Miss USA Tara Conner

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Miss USA Tara Conner was to be crowned Miss Jet Nightclub by dethroned former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees at The Mirage but had to pull out of the event after Donald Trump's national organization viewed it as "inappropriate".

The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that Miss USA organizers were informed of the Jet event after a story appeared in the paper Friday and saw it as another example of Conner's poor judgment and pressured her to back out.

The Jet event was to include a little person impersonating Trump, who owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe franchises.

Trump gave Conner a second chance and allowed her to remain as Miss USA after reports of indiscretions that included underage drinking, drug use and kissing Miss Teen USA Katie Blair of Montana.

Trump gave Conner a second chance and allowed her to remain as Miss USA after reports of indiscretions that included underage drinking, drug use and kissing Miss Teen USA Katie Blair of Montana.On December 14, 2006, controversy erupted when TMZ.com published an article stating that Conner might be dethroned for her behavior in several New York City bars. The following day the website reported that Conner would be stripped of her crown, and that first runner-up Tamiko Nash, who completed her reign as Miss California USA October, would inherit the Miss USA title. This was neither confirmed nor denied by the Miss Universe Organization.

The 16 December 2006 edition of the New York Daily News reported Conner had tested positive for cocaine, had kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair in public, and had sneaked men into their Trump Place apartment. One New York City nightlife veteran said "She really is a small-town girl. She just went wild when she came to the city. Tara just couldn't handle herself. They were sneaking those nightclub guys in and out of the apartment." According to Fox News, citing local New York newspapers, Conner "moved out of her apartment in one of Trump's luxury buildings on Manhattan's Upper West Side" sometime during the week of 11 December 2006.

On 19 December 2006, Trump held a press conference saying that Conner was not dethroned as Miss USA. "I've always been a believer in second chances," Trump said. Had Conner been dethroned, she would have been the first Miss USA to have her title removed since Mary Leona Gage in 1957. It was also announced that Conner would be entering the Caron Foundation, an alcoholism rehabilitation facility in Pennsylvania. During the press conference Conner declined to comment on allegations of illicit drug use and claimed she was not an alcoholic but acknowledged making serious mistakes.