Thursday, June 11, 2009
Carrie Prejean dumps by Donald Trump as Miss California USA
Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, who stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy when Carrie Prejean said gays shouldn't be allowed to marry, got the word from pageant poobah Donald Trump on Wednesday: "You're fired."
Trump and other pageant leaders said Prejean was being sacked not because of her controversial remarks but because she hadn't been holding up her end of the agreement she signed when Carrie Prejean entered the pageant.
"This was a decision based solely on contract violations, including Ms. Prejean's unwillingness to make appearances on behalf of the Miss California USA organization," the California pageant's executive director, Keith Lewis, said in a statement.
Lewis had complained at a news conference last month that Prejean was skipping Miss California USA events while speaking out against gay marriage at unsanctioned appearances.
After the complaints reached Trump, who owns Miss California USA's parent organization, the mogul decided to give her a second chance and keep her on. On Wednesday he changed his mind and sided with Lewis.
"I told Carrie she needed to get back to work and honor her contract with the Miss California USA Organization and I gave her the opportunity to do so," Trump said in a statement. "Unfortunately it just doesn't look like it is going to happen."
Carrie Prejean spokeswoman Melany Ethridge declined to comment, saying she hadn't been able to reach the former beauty queen since the announcement of her ouster.
Carrie Prejean told the television show Access Hollywood she would never have been let go from the pageant had she not replied the way she did to a judge's question about gay marriage.
"It's just because of my answer, I think," Prejean said Wednesday shortly after learning of Trump's decision. "None of this would be happening right now if I just said, 'Yeah, gays should get married.'"
She also denied being derelict in her post-pageant duties.
"I've tried to reach out to them and I've done several appearances and I'm going to be presenting at the Special Olympics this weekend as an honorary guest," Carrie Prejean told the TV show. "I mean, I've been cooperating with them. I don't see why this is happening."
Source: news.yahoo.com