Second racy photo of Carrie Prejean surfaces, threatens title
May 8, 2009
Pageant officials on Wednesday said they were “stunned” by the possibility of more racy photos of Miss California Carrie Prejean, recent Miss USA runner-up. Today, another topless photo of the beauty queen hit the Web.
The photo — which Prejean claimed in a e-mail to Keith Lewis, co-director for the Miss California USA pageant, didn’t exist — surfaced early Thursday on the same Web site that published the first topless photo of her, TheDirty.com.
In the e-mail, Prejean attempted to explain away the first photo, saying: “This was when I was 17 years old. I was a minor. It was when I was first getting into the modeling world, being naive, and young. I shouldnt [sic] have taken the photo of me in my underwear. There are no other photos of me. This was the only one I took.”
The new photo is similar to the first one. Prejean is topless, with pink underwear bottoms. Nik Richie, publisher of TheDirty.com, has indicated he possesses several more similar photos.
Prejean was named the first runner-up to Miss North Carolina in the Miss USA pageant April 19. Her response to a question during the pageant that she opposed same-sex marriage made her a media sensation, darling of religious conservatives and the target of embarrassing disclosures.
The photos, as well as Prejean’s many public appearances since the pageant, may constitute contract violations that could result in the loss of her crown.
Miss USA spokesman Roger Neal said this week it appears Prejean has run afoul of several sections of the 12-page contract that all prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the November state contest.
The detailed document prohibits the titular Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials. In the last 10 days, Prejean has made televised appearances at her San Diego church and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.
The contract also contains a clause asking participants to say whether they have conducted themselves “in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards.” As an example, it asks if they have ever been photographed nude or partially nude.
“As you can see from the contract, she violated multiple items,” Neal said in an e-mail to the Associated Press.
Who will decide Prejean’s future? A rep also told “Access Hollywood” that, along with pageant owner Donald Trump, “the decision [would be] made in conjunction with the Miss California USA Directors and the Miss Universe Organization.”
Meanwhile, Miss California runner-up Tami Farrell, 24, is easing into the media spotlight in case she assumes the crown. In an interview with E!, Farrell commented on the issue: “They asked specifically in her contract if she and done any racy photos. I believe it said on her contract that she said ‘No, I didn’t take any of those pictures.’ ”
Prejean has received at least one job offer based on the topless photos. Vivid Entertainment, an adult film company, has offered her a $1 million contract.