14 DAY TRIAL // Despite early speculation, Donald Trump and the Miss Universe Organization have decided that Carrie Prejean should not be stripped of her Miss California tiara for her answer on marriage in the Miss USA finals or for the set of photos that have surfaced in the meanwhile. At the same press conference held a few hours ago, Trump also said Prejean deserved our praises for being true to what she really believed, and not our criticism, as TMZ can confirm.
As fans must know, Prejean came under heavy fire at the Miss USA finals, when she said she believed marriage should only be between man and woman. Days later, modeling photos of her surfaced in the media, some of them taken before she was 18 and some after, but all in clear violation of a pageant rule that had it she was never to have posed without a top before running for the Miss USA title. In the press conference that just took place, Trump said pageant officials had ruled the photos did not violate her contract, as neither did her stance on marriage.
Although Prejean initially argued that the last series of photos was more or less “accidental,” saying it was the strong wind that made her top come undone in the front, Trump announced that none of this really mattered. All the photos are beautiful, he said, even if some of them may anger the more prude members of the audience, but that does not change the fact that he and pageant officials had ruled that Carrie Prejean was to keep her tiara as Miss California until her term runs out.
The announcement must have clearly pleased many fans who have supported the model all this while for speaking out her mind (regardless of the topic), as well as pro-family conservative groups, which are still hoping to get the beauty queen as spokesperson for some of their initiatives. Still, it did come as a shock to those who did not agree with Prejean’s views on marriage, especially to gossip blogger Perez Hilton, one of the judges on the Miss USA pageant, and also the person responsible for the harsh media backlash against the model.
Trump’s confirmation that Prejean will continue as acting Miss California as initially scheduled also comes to rubbish earlier reports that had it pageant officials were desperately trying to convince her to give up her crown willingly, so as to be spared the humiliation of a public announcement. On the same note, pageant officials who have spoken out against Prejean and on whether she should be Miss CA or not are now perhaps thinking they should not have rushed into things, it is being said.