Trump: Miss USA to keep crown

Miss USA Tara Conner, who had come under criticism amid rumors she had been frequenting bars while underage, will be allowed to keep her title, Donald Trump announced yesterday.

"I've always been a believer in second chances," Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organization with NBC, said with Conner at his side. Trump said he and Conner had met earlier yesterday morning.

"She left a small town in Kentucky and she was telling me that she got caught up in the whirlwind of New York," Trump said at a news conference. "It's a story that has happened many times before to many women and many men who came to the Big Apple. They wanted their slice of the Big Apple and they found out it wasn't so easy."

Conner won the title in April and has been living in New York. Recent media accounts of heavy drinking brought a storm of criticism since she was underage at the time. She turned 21 Monday.

In a tear-choked voice, Conner said, "In no way did I think it would be possible for a second chance to be given to me." Turning to Trump, she said, "You'll never know what this means to me, and I swear I will not let you down."

Trump said Conner would be entering rehab. A pageant official said details would be worked out privately with Conner over the next weeks.

"I think Tara is going to be the great comeback kid," Trump said.

If Conner had been dethroned, her title would have been taken over by first runner-up, Miss California Tamiko Nash.

Conner, a 5-foot-5 blonde, has been competing in pageants since age 4. After winning the Miss USA title in April, she finished fourth in the Miss Universe pageant in July.

In 2002, Miss Russia Oxana Fedorova won the Miss Universe pageant but was stripped of her title after violating her contract. Trump said Fedorova didn't show up for some photo shoots and charity events. It was the first time a titleholder had been ousted in the contest's more than 50-year history. Fedorova denied she was fired and said she gave up the title voluntarily.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Publisher Judith Regan's alleged complaints of a "Jewish cabal" and other remarks that led to her firing were condemned by the Anti-Defamation League yesterday. "If Ms. Regan did make the charge that a Jewish cabal was conspiring against her, she clearly stepped over the line by employing the age-old anti-Semitic canard that Jews conspire against non-Jews," said ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman. "She also gives credence to the conspiracy theory that Jews control the media." Regan (inset) was fired Friday by the News Corp.-owned HarperCollins after a telephone confrontation in which she complained of a "Jewish cabal" against her in the industry and appeared to liken herself to a victim of the Nazis as she stated that Jews "should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie." Andrew Butcher, a spokesman for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said Monday that the remarks were made during a conversation between Regan and HarperCollins lawyer Mark Jackson, who took notes. At the time, the two were discussing the future of a new novel about baseball star Mickey Mantle. Butcher released the comments in response to a threatened libel suit from Regan's legal representative, who had called earlier reports of inappropriate remarks "completely untrue."

Tawny Kitaen, who starred in the 1984 Tom Hanks comedy "Bachelor Party," has entered a drug rehabilitation program after pleading guilty to possessing 15 grams of cocaine. The 45-year-old actress will be allowed to change her plea to not guilty after completing the program, under terms of a plea agreement, officials said. The plea change will remove the conviction from her record. Kitaen was charged with felony possession after sheriff's deputies said they found cocaine in her apartment in May. She was arrested in 2002 on charges she abused then-husband, former Angels pitcher Chuck Finley. She agreed to anger management and conflict resolution counseling in exchange for the dismissal of two misdemeanor counts of spousal abuse.

Ronald Goldman's father sued O.J. Simpson yesterday, seeking any money the former NFL star received for a canceled book deal and TV interview that told a hypothetical tale of how he would have killed his ex-wife and Goldman. The federal lawsuit filed in California by Fred Goldman's Indianapolis-based attorney accuses Simpson of "fraudulent conveyance" and alleges that he created a shell corporation that received at least $1.1 million as part of the TV interview and book, titled "If I Did It."

The chauffeur accused of trying to extort $2 million from Yoko Ono was indicted yesterday on a charge of first-degree attempted grand larceny and jailed without bail because the judge said he is a potential flight risk. Koral Karsan, 50, nattily dressed in a blue blazer with his hands cuffed behind him, pleaded not guilty before New York Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrecht. The judge ordered Karsan held even though his friends posted $250,000 cash bail. Ambrecht said Karsan, a native of Turkey, is a flight risk because he has ties abroad and there are unresolved questions about his immigration status. Assistant District Attorney Anne Schwartz told Ambrecht that Karsan is in the country illegally. Immigration officials issued a warrant Monday to detain Karsan while they decide his status. Karsan, of Amityville, N.Y., was arrested last Wednesday. He was accused of threatening to release embarrassing tape recordings and candid photographs of Ono, the widow of John Lennon, and possibly have her killed unless she gave him $2 million.

George Clinton is seeking the public's help in nabbing the thief who stole a video camera and other valuables during a music video shoot. Footage of "Bounce 2 This" is contained in the camera that was stolen more than a week ago, said publicist Karen Sundell. The theft was recorded by a surveillance camera on the Los Angeles-area set, she said. Clinton, 65, didn't immediately report the theft because he was shooting an upcoming horror movie, Sundell said.

Big challenge

'I'm not where I want to be, but I'm on the right track, and I'm excited about encouraging other Alabamians to begin their own weight-loss journeys.' ‘‘American Idol’’ winner Ruben Studdard,, who has shed almost 100 pounds and is asking the 25 percent of Alabama's residents who are obese to lose 10 pounds each in eight weeks.

FROM WIRE REPORTS