NEW YORK- Miss USA Rima Fakih is a Muslim with Lebanese heritage, but her family is "not defined by religion," Fakih has said. I'm an American girl," Fakih said. "And just to be clear, my family comes from many different backgrounds and religions." The newest Miss USA, crowned last weekend, was interviewed Wednesday for HLN's "The Joy Behar Show." Fakih downplayed the significance of photographs that emerged online this week showing her dancing against a stripper's pole. "Everyone took them as if I was stripping, which to be honest with you was just a competition," she said. "It was more of an event held by a radio station." The Detroit, Michigan, radio station promotion held three years ago was like a class to help women "learn how to dance and feel sexy," she told Behar.