Caroline Michelle Carrie Prejean(born May 13, 1987 is an American model and former beauty queen from Vista, California. She held the title of Miss California USA 2009, and placed first runner up in the Miss USA 2009 pageant. She gained nationwide attention over her answer to a question about same-sex marriage. She was eventually dethroned on June 10, 2009, with the producers of the Miss California USA pageant citing continued breach of contract issues as the reason.
Prejean has appeared as a model for Target, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom. She has also appeared in Bliss magazine, as a model for E!: Entertainment Television, at the 81st Academy Awards as the pivot girl, and in an interactive model search competition for the NBC game show Deal or No Deal.
Personal life
Prejean was born in San Diego, California to Francine Coppola and William Prejean. She was raised in an evangelical Christian household in Vista, California. Prejean's parents divorced in 1988. A custody battle went on for more than a decade.
Pageants
In 2005, Prejean competed in the Miss California Teen USA pageant and placed first runner-up to Stephanie Brink. In 2007, she competed in the Miss California USA 2008 pageant and initially placed third runner-up; later a judging error was discovered and she was promoted to first runner-up.
Prejean returned the following year and won the Miss California USA 2009 title, succeeding Raquel Beezley as California's representative to the Miss USA pageant. Prejean competed at the nationally televised Miss USA 2009 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009, and placed first runner-up. Prejean's answer to her final question during the pageant became the subject of controversy.
Miss USA 2009 controversy
Prejean attracted nationwide attention with her response to a question about same-sex marriage during the 2009 Miss USA pageant. Prejean was asked by pageant judge Perez Hilton whether she believed every U.S. state should legalize same-sex marriage. She responded,
Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.
The media attention intensified after Hilton posted a video blog on his website, where he called Prejean a "dumb bitch" and said her answer was the worst in pageant history."She gave an awful, awful answer that alienated so many people." He also told ABC News that she lost the crown because of how she answered the question.Adding that "There are various other ways she could have answered that question and still stayed true to herself without alienating millions of people."Prejean has also stated that she believes that her answer cost her the crown.
Prejean stated that she was told by Miss California USA pageant officials that she "need to not talk about" her faith and was pressured to apologize for her statement.
Donald Trump, who owns most of the Miss Universe Organization, defended Prejean's answer, saying that "Miss California has done a wonderful job" and that "It wasn't a bad answer, that was simply her belief." He then added that the question was "a bit unlucky" and that no matter which way she answered the question "she was going to get killed".Several elected officials, including Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco and a prominent supporter of same-sex marriage, and political pundits criticized Hilton and defended Prejean for honestly stating her personal beliefs. In April 2009, American pop singer, Britney Spears declared her support for same-sex marriage to the media, following the controversial incident on Miss USA where contestant Carrie Prejean, representing California, expressed her disapproval of same-sex unions. The message left by Spears on her Twitter page read “Love is love! People should be able to do whatever makes them happy!”
On June 15, 2009, the Empowering Spirits Foundation, a national LGBT civil rights organization issued a press release asking for the LGBT community to "move forward and engage in respectful dialogue." A. Latham Staples, the foundation's executive director, was quoted as saying, "Demeaning Carrie Prejean or others by using terms such as bigot will not advance our cause of civil rights and social justice. The LGBT community must use this period of heightened attention on LGBT issues by engaging others in positive ways.” Staples went on to wish Prejean "much success in her future endeavors.$PAGE$
Post-Miss USA Pageant
Photograph controversy and crown retention
On May 4, 2009, a photograph of Prejean partially nude with her back turned to the camera appeared on a celebrity gossip blog, leading to the directors of the Miss California USA pageant investigating Prejean for potentially violating a contract clause against prospective pageant candidates having been photographed "nude or partially nude". Prejean stated on May 5 that she had posed for the shot as a seventeen-year-old and objected to its release, saying,
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. I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be. She has also stated that she was "naive, and young" at the time of the photography and regrets having made the decision. National Organization for Marriage president Maggie Gallagher stated on May 5 that the release would not affect Prejean's role with her group. She commented that "On a personal note, as a former unwed mother, I want to say to Americans: you don't have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage."Alicia Jacobs, a local reporter for KVBC in Las Vegas who served as a judge at the Miss USA pageant, has stated that the pictures "go beyond what the Miss California pageant says are appropriate," and do not befit Prejean's status.
Following the release of her semi-nude photos, the pageant administration announced it would discuss whether or not Prejean should retain the Miss California USA crown. On May 12, the Miss USA owner, Donald Trump, announced that Prejean would retain the crown. In his remarks he said that "We are in the 21st century. We have determined the pictures taken are fine" and that "in some cases the pictures were lovely." Concerning her opinion on same sex marriage, Trump stated: "It's the same answer that the President of the United States gave. She gave an honorable answer. She gave an answer from her heart.On May 27, 2009, while acting as a one day guest host on Fox & Friends, Prejean echoed Trump's statement, equating her position on same sex marriage with that of President Barack Obama, the majority of California voters, and the California Supreme Court.Events
Following the pageant, Prejean appeared in a television advertisement opposing same-sex marriage for the National Organization for Marriage,which had contacted her shortly after the pageant.She also hired a Christian public relations firm. In late April, Prejean presented an award at the Gospel Music Association's 2009 Dove Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.Prejean also spoke at Liberty University's final convocation of the year on April 29, 2009.
On May 1, Prejean stated on On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren that she did not have an opinion on civil unions for same-sex couples, but that she supports certain rights of same-sex couples, such as hospital visitations.She has stated that she would be willing to meet with representatives from California's largest gay rights group "as long as it's not political".
Termination of contract
K2 Productions, which produces the Miss California USA pageant, decided to terminate Prejean's contract for "continued breach of contract issues" on June 10, 2009, which was approved by Trump.Prejean has stated that K2 Productions wanted her to pose for Playboy and appear on the reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!, though Keith Lewis, the executive director of K2 Productions, stated that Prejean had requested to be notified of all offers for appearances.In a series of business e-mails written to Keith Lewis on the subject of notifying him of her contact information during a public appearance related to the Special Olympics, Prejean argued: "You do not cooperate with me, and you pick and chose [sic] the things you want me to do. That is not happening anymore. Stop speaking for me. I have my own voice.