AP - The former Miss Nevada USA, dethroned over raunchy photos posted online, apologised on Sunday as her lawyer pleaded for the pageant queen to be given a second chance.
Katie Rees, who appeared in photos revealing a breast and exposing her thong at a party in Tampa, said her behaviour was an "isolated incident".
"I am so sorry this happened," she said at a news conference in Clearwater, Florida, reading a prepared statement. "So many of us don't realise how our actions, even one night of poor judgment, can affect the rest of our lives."
Her lawyer, Mario Torres, of Tampa, Florida, asked that Miss Universe Organisation co-owner Donald Trump grant Rees the same opportunity he gave Miss USA Tara Conner, who was allowed to keep her tiara despite tearfully admitting drinking as a minor at New York nightclubs. The Miss Universe Organisation owns the Miss USA pageant and others.
"He always believes in second chances," Torres said of Trump. "We are asking for that and plead that he answer our call, allow us to meet with him and allow us to defend ourselves."
A Miss Universe spokeswoman has said organisation president Paula M Shugart made the decision to strip Rees of her title and Trump supported it. An email sent to a secretary for Trump was not immediately answered.
Torres said he had reached out to Trump and others in Miss Universe but had not heard back. Shugart said first runner-up Helen Salas will assume the Miss Nevada title and compete at the next Miss USA pageant on March 23 in Los Angeles.
The lawyer said he was not pursuing legal action immediately, but said it was something he might consider. He said the person who posted the pictures of Rees should "in some way be held accountable".
The photographer, a friend of Rees, was not identified.
Torres had previously said the photos of his client were taken when she was 17, but said they were taken three years ago, when she was 19.
"These images were from an isolated incident during my teenage years, long before my consideration to compete in the Miss USA program," Rees said. "While I take full responsibility for the photographs, I just want everyone to know the truth: This incident does not represent who I am."
Rees and Conner were not the only pageant queens to fall from their thrones in recent days. On Wednesday, Mothers Against Drunk Driving announced it was ditching Katie Blair, the Miss Teen USA, because it was "disappointed" by news reports that the 18-year-old from Billings, Montana, had been spotted partying with Miss USA in New York clubs.
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