Miss California USA Carrie Prejean loses title [Updated]

Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, whose comments opposing gay marriage sparked controversy, has been stripped of her title, officials said today.

The action comes a month after Donald Trump, who runs the Miss USA pageant, announced she would retain the crown.

A spokesperson for K2 Productions, which operates the Miss California, confirmed to The Times that Prejean has been stripped of her crown because of "contract violations." Fox News reported that pageant officials contended that she failed to participate in pageant-related events.

The controversy began nearly a month ago, when Prejean was asked about her views on same-sex marriage during the nationally televised Miss USA pageant. Although she said she believed people were entitled to do as they liked, she said marriage should be recognized only as an institution between a man and a woman.

Trump said he had no problem with Prejean's comments. "She gave a very honest answer when asked a tough question," he said at a New York news conference with Prejean sitting next to him. "It was the same answer the president of the United States gave ... She has to be commended."

Trump also said he reviewed semi-nude photos of Prejean that have surfaced in recent days and concluded they should not disqualify her. "We are in the 21st century," said Trump, who owns the pageant. "We have determined that the pictures taken were fine."

Prejean, who has appeared on Fox News in recent weeks, could not immediately be reached for comment.

[Updated at 1:25 p.m.: K2 Productions said Tami Farrell, who was first runner-up in the Miss California USA competition, will take over the crown.

Miss USA officials said in a statement that Trump supported the firing. In another statement, officials said they took the action because of "Ms. Prejean’s unwillingness to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization."]

-- Ruben Vives

Photo: L.A. Times file

Comments

[andy]

The best news I heard all day.

[Bobby B.]

Good ... she was starting to get on my nerves!

[rjhouse]

Fired for not honoring contract to participate in events, but she'll be everywhere today and tomorrow proclaiming she was fired for standing up for her beliefs. She'll then be ready to be a politician.

[Paul]

She lost her crown because of her stance on Homosexual marriage and nothing more. This again shows how pathetic the state of California has gotten. I am glad I moved.........

[Irene Comeau]

The PC crowd might have taken away her crown but nothing can take away her spirit. Carrie Prejean will go far in life based on her integrity alone. Good for her.

[Khara H.]

So is this, or is this not, directly related to Prejean's comments on homosexuality? Given the presentation of this article, it sounds as though it is assumed her being stripped of her title resulted in either a direct or indirect way from her comments during the Miss USA competition. However, it is initially stated that she was stripped of the title because she failed to live up to the contract by not attending "pageant-released events." If the latter reason is the actual reason, I worry people and critics who supported Prejean's initial comments will believe this was a final vindication from those who opposed them. Personally, I don't think her beliefs regarding gay-marriage should weigh on her ability to be Miss California (though it's harder to say how it relates to her run for Miss USA); as Mr. Trump said, the fact that she was honest about her opinion speaks well for her, even if her opinion is unpopular (President Obama's agreement with her is a mute point). It would be a shame for this situation, if indeed she was stripped of the title due to a breech of contract, were to be labeled something it really isn't simply because of this month-old "controversy".

[glasshalfulll]

Mrs. Alabama indicates that she is against same-sex marriage: no problem. Mrs. California indicates that she is against same-sex marriage: big problem.

[Judy]

This is Breaking News? BooHoo - Who cares!

[phoenixandrew]

I'm glad she was stripped of her title, it was long overdue. She was a real bigot. She never got it through her head that she represented all of California, not just those who agreed with her bigoted views.

[PW Dyson]

Wow, who cares! Billions wasted by Bush and Obama and we care what happens to a beauty queen.

[billy bo usa]

plastic surgery and controvsersial comments with speaking engagements for pro marriage groups maybe left little time for her to perform her duties as Miss Ca. She can always pose nude again for a magazine like playboy for some quick cash. be consistent if you are gonna play the religion card for your faith. sheesh. I do agree she is entitled to her opinion.

[Robert]

The gay mafia strikes again.

[Sarah]

Well, kudos to her for sticking by her beliefs.

[Grant]

This is not because of her comments. This is not because of the nudie pics. This is because she got too big for her tiara and decided she could skip the public appearances she was required by her contract to make. These appearances are scheduled months in advance and it harms the pageant's reputation and future business opportunities when she decides on a whim to skip it. You want to be Miss Whatever? Then you gotta smile, wave, and go to those parades and supermarket openings.

[Mike in SD]

Sounds to me like she wanted to retain the title without doing any of the work.

You can't keep her on for the job just for her beliefs about marriage any more than you can keep her off.

[Black]

They probably asked her to attend gay sponsored events and she refused. Good for her. Look like she didn't compromise her values. There is something better for her in the near future.

[nathan charris]

YOU ARE FIRED!!!!!! ufff, what a relief.

[Simpleton]

Does she now have to return her implants?

[Andrew]

I won't shed a tear. She breached her contract over those topless photos, lied about them, subsequently failed to fulfill her obligations as Miss CA... this, on top of preaching about 'living biblically' while strutting her surgically enhanced breasts with her pants halfway up her butt. And while she clearly believes she has some God-given right to do and act the way she wants, she wastes no time expressing her desire that millions of American citizens be denied marriage rights. At best, she is naive and unwordly, but I suspect she's actually an arrogant, hypocritical bigot from the tips of her peroxide frosting to the gloss of her painted toe-nails.

[Actual California Resident]

Go California! You can make excuses all you want. Supposed political correctness is just an excuse to continue idiotic behavior. I'm sure that 88 year old murderer at the Holocaust museum complained about Political Correctness all the time. Carrie Prejean can take her fake boobs and hypocritical holier than thou attitude and move to some ultra right wing state with all the other whiners that love to make comments on the LA Times website.

[Jose Rodriguez]

What a shame!!!!!!!!! What bothers me is that this is more politically motivated than anything else. She should've kept her crown. David Crocker should have never stucked to his guns. He should have just given up the alamo to the mexican army. Should Carrie just have given in to peer pressure or to what she knew was right.

[Frank]

I notice that Trump is not holding a news conference this time. He hates to admit he made a mistake the first time. I guess he finally had to look beyond her implants and realize she was not doing the job. The PC crowd didn't take her title, she lost it for pandering to the religious reich instead of doing the job she was hired to do. Now she can fade away (I hope).

[Maya]

Trump came to her defense last month and stated that the comments and the pictures where fine. I have not problems with her comments even though I am pro same sex marriage. I do have a problem with the fact that she appeared on behave of other organizations and did not make any of the public appearances for the pageant that she won. I expect to be fired if I don't meet my contractual obligations on the job. She didn't meet her obligations so she was fired. The fact that people will turn this in to a gay marriage debate is sad. Trump placed her on a short leash and she blew it. C'est la vie.

[KateNonymous]

I disagree with her, but then apparently I disagree with the majority of California voters.

Here's the thing: no matter how she answered the question, someone would have found it controversial. So if there's an issue over Miss California saying something controversial, why have judges ask questions that are controversial? She answered the question that was asked--it's not like Perez Hilton said, "What one thing would you do to improve the world?" and she said, "End gay marriage everywhere."

But given all of the brouhaha over this totally uninteresting event, I also wonder which events she didn't attend. Were these recent events, or did they take place in the time period before Trump originally said she would keep her crown, and the pageant people were running around with their substitute?

And beyond that, who looks to a pageant run by Donald Trump in the hope of finding some vanguard of progressive thought?

[Chris in Texas]

Donald Trump is hardly a Godless, Obama-loving, commie, pinko, liberal. She was removed because she failed to live up to the terms of her contract. "The Donald" could not care less about her beliefs on marriage. I'm sure she'll spin it as a condemnation of her beliefs in order to advance her position with the religious right. Look for her to show up as a political commentator on Pox News in the future.