Miss California Carrie Prejean keeps crown, blames "windy day" for new topless photos

Jennifer Romolini, Shine editor in chief
AP Photo
AP Photo

Miss California Carrie Prejean and Donald Trump held a press conference today where they revealed that Prejean will not lose her pageant crown over nude photos (new, racier images were revealed today) nor over her appearances with several anti-gay marriage groups (which some considered a conflict with the neutrality required in her Miss California contract).

During the live, 10-minute-plus broadcast, Trump explained that Prejean is a "model, a very successful [Ed: Really???] model" and that "a determination has been made that the pictures are acceptable...in some cases very beautiful." He summarized the entire situation as a "communication problem that has been solved."
In her portion of the press conference, Prejean read a statement quite obviously written for her by a very skilled, probably very expensive public relations professional. Among the gems Prejean smiled and cried her way through:

  • "I was punished for exercising my freedom of speech."

  • "I am not an activist...I was thrown into a firestorm...I have become an advocate for not redefining marriage based on my personal beliefs."

  • "I find it appalling that a professional photographer would violate my trust and release an unauthorized and inappropriate image taken on a windy day which I was not aware of."

These words are amazing! They are worth every penny! Do you realize what this means? Carrie Prejean has become the second woman in history of the universe (the first was Tara Reid) to have her breasts completely exposed to both a photographer and the elements and to have absolutely no clue that this was happening. That's wild!

Anyway... what no one is really talking about is what a brilliant PR stunt this whole situation has been for four true media wh*res:
1. The Donald, who obviously saw the brilliance of this free publicity for his otherwise floundering Miss USA enterprise.

2. Perez Hilton, the sluttiest press slut in Sluttown, who started the entire maelstrom by asking the question in the first place and used the subsequent coverage to leverage himself as a legitimate "issues" guy, not just a dude who draws penises on celeb photos.

3. Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA, Playboy playmate, and reality TV star who's kept herself in the limelight over the years by having fist fights with Paris Hilton and endlessly breaking up/reconciling with ex-hubs Travis Barker. Remember, Moakler was the person who announced the news about Prejean's implants.

4. And, last, newly minted fame addict Carrie Prejean, who did not, as she states in the clip below "stay silent," but instead granted interviews with myriad media outlets over the past weeks and spoke in one contentious sound byte after another. You don't say, "I felt as though Satan was trying to tempt me in asking me this question," if you're hoping to stay out of the news. You keep your mouth shut.

Well played, press trollops! May the media entangle you in "rumors and vicious attacks" or whatever brings you any kind of attention, for as long as you all shall live.