Miss California USA officials appoint an alternate ambassador, but Carrie Prejean is still the title holder -- for now.
Pageant officials appointed the current Miss Malibu (and first alternate to the Miss California title), Tami Farrell, as an ambassador on Monday to attend events for the Miss California USA organization.
"Up until now, we've just been riding along as a passenger on this runaway train," Keith Lewis, who is Miss California USA's co-executive director. said Monday. "As of today, that ends."
"Carrie has been unavailable to us, her sponsors and our organization because of her commitment to outside organizations," said another official, Shanna Lynn Moakler, a former beauty queen herself .
State pageant officials have been investigating whether Prejean violated her contract by making public appearances with groups opposed to same-sex marriage. Prejean also failed to reveal that she posed in her underwear as a teenager.
Moakler said her failure to reveal that to organizers shows Prejean entered the pageant under false pretenses.
"We're going to get back to our business of beauty," Lewis said.
Lewis also said Prejean has missed appearances; Moakler pointed out that Prejean has made appearances elsewhere, but not in her "official" Miss California capacity. Both officials said they had been unable to speak directly with Prejean. They also said it was not their decision whether to remove Prejean from her position as Miss California; rather it fell into the purview of the Miss Universe organization.
"We never want to take away a girl's beliefs or her voice...," Lewis said. "But when you wear the title that says 'I represent everyone,' you can't then polarize the people you represent.... There's no difference between Carrie Prejean and Miss California USA."
What's still in flux is what Donald Trump will do Tuesday -- whether he will give Prejean another chance or appoint Farrell in her place.
Last week, they began looking into whether Prejean violated her contract by working with a national group opposed to gay marriage and by posing semi-clad when she was allegedly a teenage model.
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Farrell told Access Hollywood's Billy Bush last week that she was ready to step in as Miss California if called upon.
Prejean has not yet been reached for comment.
Miss California USA spokesman Roger Neal said last Tuesday that it appeared the 21-year-old ran afoul of several sections of the 12-page contract prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the state contest.
The contract contains a clause asking participants whether they have conducted themselves "in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards" and if they've ever been photographed nude or partially nude.
The detailed document also prohibits the titular Miss California from making personal appearances, giving interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials. In the last two weeks, Prejean made televised appearances at her San Diego church and on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.
"As you can see from the contract, she violated multiple items," Neal said in an e-mail to The Associated Press last week.
Prejean spokeswoman Melany Ethridge said she couldn't comment on the contract because she's unfamiliar with its contents.
Prejean made a loud debut in the public eye after a controversial but honest answer to Perez Hilton's question on gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant. Then, she answered questions from Matt Lauer on the Today Show and refused to back down on her stance.
Soon after, she was rumored to be dating Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps. (They're just friends, she says.)
When she returned home to San Diego, she made the rounds of local television morning newscasts talking about her faith and her future. Then, just a week after her triumphant return to the Rock Church, the openly Christian beauty queen found herself in the middle of a photo scandal after a photo of her wearing only pink panties with her back turned to the camera appeared Monday on a gossip blog. On Wednesday night, another picture was posted on the site.
According to Access Hollywood, Prejean swears she was 17 or under when the photos were taken.
The contract that Carrie signed is specific about nude or seminude photos and their existence would give pageant officials the grounds for dismissal, pageant spokesman Neal said.
Miss California officials told Access Hollywood last week they did not believe Prejean was 17 in the photo they saw and that they believe the photo was shot between the time of her breast augmentation and the Miss USA pageant, pointing out that her hair length is similar to what it was when she won the Miss California crown.
Alicia Jacobs, the entertainment reporter at KVBC in Las Vegas, saw all six photos and said some are much more revealing. She said she thinks they may have been taken after Prejean's pageant-financed breast implant surgery, about six weeks ago.
