Remember little Maddy Verst from "Toddler's & Tiaras"? No? Well, let us refresh your memory.
The now 6-year-old's mother dressed her as Dolly Parton, complete with figure-enhancing padded bra and sculpting underwear, on a now-infamous episode of the show. If that sounds outrageous to you, you're not alone -- the stunt sparked plenty of controversy back in September of last year. And now it looks like it could cause Maddy's mother Lindsay Jackson to lose custody.
Jackson's estranged husband Bill Verst is seeking full custody of Maddy after claiming that his ex-wife sexually exploited their daughter by dressing her in the scandalous outfit and allowing her to participate in beauty pageants. According to reports, Kentucky court proceedings on Saturday got a little heated when the judge closed the hearing, throwing reporters out of the room and placing a gag order on Jackson.
The judge also made sure to ban Jackson from signing up her daughter for any pageants until the proceedings are finished. Just before the gag order, Jackson told "Fox News" that she hasn't done anything "illegal" to warrant losing custody and expressed concern for the future of beauty pageants:
We could really open up Pandora’s Box to set a precedent all over the world. What if years ago Gabby Douglas’ father said, ‘She’s not going to be a gymnast. She’s not going to move away from home and practice gymnastics because I won’t allow it,’ and he and Gabby’s mother got into a fight? We wouldn’t have gold medal winners, we wouldn’t have Miss America, we wouldn’t have Miss USA.
Hm, we doubt Gabby Douglas' parents would throw a padded bra on their child for national television, but that's just us. To make matters worse, Maddy's father is a convicted felon currently on probation for a DUI and child endangerment. While we were certainly a little... shocked after seeing a young child in a significantly padded bra, Jackson isn't the only pageant mom outfitting her child in racy clothes. People were equally as incensed after "Toddlers & Tiaras" featured a 3-year-old dressed like Julia Roberts' prostitute character in "Pretty Woman" just one week later.
We can't help but hope that there is some sort of beauty pageant precedent set by this case, but we'll have to see when proceedings resume August 31. Do you think Maddy's Dolly Parton outfit should cause her mother to lose custody? Watch the video of the outfit in question below and tell us what you think.
See the video of the outfit in question:
For an example of an adult beauty pageant, see this year's Miss World 2012 winner!
