Trump accused of walking in on 15-year-old pageant contestants in 1997

Mariah Billado, former Miss Vermont Teen USA, said Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, walked through the dressing room at the contest as young women were changing, in a story by Buzzfeed published Oct. 12, 2016. less Mariah Billado, former Miss Vermont Teen USA, said Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, walked through the dressing room at the contest as young women were changing, in a story by Buzzfeed ... more Photo: Courtesy/YouTube Photo: Courtesy/YouTube Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Trump accused of walking in on 15-year-old pageant contestants in 1997 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

The 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant, where contestants said Donald Trump walked in on naked teenagers in the dressing room, was held on South Padre Island in Texas.

The pageant, now almost 10 years ago, was the first under Trump’s tenor after he bought Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe in 1996. Ivanka Trump, the reality star’s daughter, was just 16 years old at the time and served as co-host of the event alongside actor J. Eddie Peck, according to footage of the pageant.

Buzzfeed News spoke to five contestants from the 1997 Miss Teen USA pageant who said Trump, the Republican nominee for president, would freely walk in the young women’s dressing room, whether they were clothed or not.

“I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, ‘Oh my god, there’s a man in here,’” Mariah Billado, former Miss Vermont Teen USA, told Buzzfeed News.

She said Trump told the young women, who were around the same age as his daughter, not to worry because he had “seen it all before,” according to Buzzfeed News.

Three other contestants, who spoke to Buzzfeed News on the condition they could stay anonymous, confirmed what Billado said—Trump would walk through the dressing room as contestants rushed to cover themselves up.

In an interview with Howard Stern in April 2005, which was uncovered by CNN, Trump told him a story that mirrored the one Billado told Buzzfeed more than 10 years later:

"Well, I'll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I'll go backstage and everyone's getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. You know, the dresses. 'Is everyone okay?' You know, they're standing there with no clothes. 'Is everybody okay?' And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that. But no, I've been very good," he said.

Victoria Hughes, former Miss New Mexico Teen USA, told Buzzfeed News she was the oldest contestant at the 1997 competition at 19-years-old.

"I was the eldest delegate at age 19 and was in the very back of the large dressing room. I recall chaperones saying that we had a visitor and to get covered up. The black curtains opened and in walks Mr. Trump smiling. He wished us all good luck, did not stay very long and left. As teenagers, it no doubt caught us off guard, as the timing of the entrance could've been better and less awkward for us all," Hughes told Buzzfeed News in an email.

Buzzfeed’s story on the beauty queens was published the same day the New York Times reported allegations from two women who said Trump touched them inappropriately and without consent. A reporter from PEOPLE magazine also published a story Wednesday about the time she interviewed Trump and his third wife Melania. She said when Melania Trump left the room, Trump pushed her against the wall and began “forcing his tongue down (her) throat.”

Trump has denied the claims made in the New York Times and PEOPLE piece.

“This entire article is fiction, and for the New York Times to launch a completely false, coordinated character assassination against Mr. Trump on a topic like this is dangerous. To reach back decades in an attempt to smear Mr. Trump trivializes sexual assault, and it sets a new low for where the media is willing to go in its efforts to determine this election,” Trump’s communications advisor Jason Miller said in a statement.

The campaign followed up the statement with a letter to the New York Times demanding they remove the story and issue an apology.

Hope Hicks, Trump’s press secretary, addressed the PEOPLE magazine story in a statement.

“This never happened. There is no merit or veracity to this fictional story. Why wasn’t this reported at the time? Mr. Trump was the biggest star on television and surely this would have been a far bigger scoop for People magazine," Hicks said. "This is nothing but a politically motivated fictional pile-on.”

The reports from the New York Times, Buzzfeed, and PEOPLE were published days after the Washington Post published an audio clip from 2005 where Trump bragged about groping women.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5