Miss California Will Keep Her Crown
Prejean suggests "Satan" was baiting her with gay marriage question
By XANA O'NEILL
Updated 4:22 PM PST, Tue, May 12, 2009
Miss California will keep her crown.
Donald Trump, the pageant owner, said he wouldn't strip the blonde bombshell of her title because she failed to mention she posed in underwear as a teen and defended the beauty queen's answer to a question posed to her on gay marriage during the Miss USA pageant.
"If her beauty wasn't so great, nobody really would care," said Trump. "She gave an answer from her heart, and I think for that she must be commended."
A tearful Carrie Prejean defended her crown against critics who said the answer to a question on gay marriage during the Miss USA pageant and the semi-nude photos that surfaced after the contest were enough to have her title taken away.
"I am a strong woman," Prejean said, "and because of that I'm ready to move forward and be the best Miss California that I can be."
Trump defended the contestant and said the racy photos were "acceptable" and in "many cases" they were "lovely."
"Carrie will remain Miss California," he said. "She, I believe, will do a fantastic job. ... We're very proud of her. She's really taken a tremendous amount of abuse."
Prejean, who became teary-eyed during her speech today, said she was asked a "politically charged" question during the Miss USA pageant by a judge with a "hidden agenda."
"I believe no one should be silenced if they're speaking from their heart," she said through tears.
"On April 19 on that stage, I exercised my freedom of speech and I was punished for doing so," she sobbed. "This should not happen in America."
Prejean was asked her views on gay marriage during the April contest by celebrity judge Perez Hilton -- and the beauty queen claimed she got low marks for saying she didn't believe in same-sex marriage.
On the "Focus on the Family" radio show, she even suggested Hilton was Satan.
"Honestly, I felt as though Satan was -- and I don't want to say that this person represented Satan, but -- I felt as though Satan was trying to tempt me in asking me this question," Prejean said.
Carrie also acknowledged the sexy semi-nude photos -- including the latest round published on TMZ -- and said the images released today were taken by a photographer who snapped the racy shots unbeknownst to her.
First Published: May 12, 2009 12:43 AM PST
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