You've all got it infamy!
But Prejean is defiant and says the photos are innocent and were only leaked in a bid to undermine and humiliate her because of her religious views and stance on gay marriage.
Prejean, 21, famously entered into a bitter war of words last month with openly-gay gossip queen
Perez Hilton
over
her anti-same sex marriage stance
While competing at the Miss USA competition, contest judge Hilton asked her whether she believed in gay marriage, she replied that she believed "marriage should be between a man and a woman". After that response she was later declared a runner-up to Miss USA. Prejean believes her answer cost her the crown.
Her views enraged Hilton and divided public opinion. While same-sex marriage advocates denounced her, others commended her for her honesty and sticking to her beliefs.
Prejean's stance also won her favour with anti-gay marriage group the National Organization for Marriage - they recently named her their poster girl and she validated her endorsement with an advertising campaign on their behalf:
I am a Christian, and I am a model...
Responding to the backlash from the photo leak, Prejean has issued the following statement: "On April 19, I chose to answer a question during the 2009 Miss USA pageant in an honest and personal manner that expressed my views of the long-established definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman," she said.
"Yet my comments defending traditional marriage have led to intimidation tactics that seek to undermine my reputation and somehow silence me and my beliefs, as if opinion is only a one-way street."
Although only one photo of Prejan in her undies is currently in circulation, sources say that another five snaps exist - one of which shows her in the nuddie. Nonetheless, the beauty contender insists the pics are just modeling shots.
"I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith."
Prejean continues, "I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be - but these attacks on me and others who speak in defense of traditional marriage are intolerant and offensive. While we may not agree on every issue, we should show respect for others' opinions and not try to silence them through vicious and mean-spirited attacks."
Thou shall not strip...
Fair enough. But while Prejean trumpets about a fundamental human right to freedom of speech, she may end up paying the ultimate price for the lingerie snaps - her tiara.
Snitches reveal that Prejean's soft-focused disrobing falls foul of her 12-page contract with the Miss USA pageant, which prohibits her from being photographed "in a state of partial or total nudity."
Pageant officials are believed to be in crisis meetings to discuss the photo leak and decide if Prejean should be stripped of her Miss California title.
And pageant spokesman Roger Neal told Usmagazine.com that Prejean had fallen foul of several parts of the contract. The flesh-flashing - which as a pageant participant Prejean was obliged to declare whether she'd ever been photographed nude or partially nude - is a big no-no as far as her contract goes.
According to Accesshollywood.com, one clause in the contract prohibits participants from "appearing in public or permitting myself to be photographed in a state of partial or total nudity or in a lewd, compromising or sexually suggestive manner constitutes a violation of this provision (this includes photographs of images that may appear on any Web site, such as MySpace of Facebook)."
"As you can see from the contract, she violated multiple items," Neal told the Associated Press.
Taking another stab to draw a halt to the photo scandal, Prejean has craftily pointed out that the snaps in question were taken when she was 17 - a minor in the eyes of the law. Clever strategy. What self-respecting, legitimate media outlet would publish the photos armed with that knowledge?
But U.S. news show Access Hollywood has since suggested the beauty queen may have been 18 when she posed for the snaps. And that the photos were taken after she had a boob job - roughly six weeks before the Miss USA pageant. Just an extra tidbit: That
boob surgery was paid for
by the Miss California pageant.
Prejean's rep had this to say about the snap scandal: "This was a photo that was taken several years ago, when Carrie first started modeling. In her naivete, an agent convinced her to pose for this photo to submit to a lingerie company, claiming they could make her the next Victoria's Secret model. She has since learned what a lie that was, and what a mistake it was to have the photo taken," she told TMZ.com.
That message was quickly followed by: "Is there any allowance for the fact that she was a minor when the photo was taken, that would allow you not to post? She was only 17."
Despite the controversy, Prejean is defiant and vows she "will continue to support and defend marriage as the honorable institution it is. I will continue to stand with the overwhelming majority of the American people and the voters of my home state of California."
"If this whole experience has taught me anything," she concluded, "it is our precious right to speak freely, and how we as Americans can never allow anyone or any group to intimidate or threaten us to keep silent."
Joan of Arc
It remains to be seen whether Prejean will be robbed of her tiara, but suffice to say, whatever happens, this Joan of Arc figure for traditional marriage will continue to be vocal about her beliefs.
But if Prejean does end up holding on to her jewels, no doubt questions will be raised as to why. Didn't exactly the same thing happen to Vanessa Williams in 1984? She had to resign her Miss America crown after revealing photos she had posed for in 1982 were leaked to reporters.
What's fascinating about the snaps scandal is the juxtaposition between Prejean's projected holier-than-thou image and her once-upon-a-time disrobing. To her detractors, it smacks of hypocrisy and begs the question: Can you preach so fervently from your pulpit about ‘morality' on one hand, and be a lingerie model that occasionally lets down her bra straps on the other? Discuss.
BBB
Pictured: Miss California Carrie Prejean. Photo / AP
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