‘Miss Calif. pre- and post-implants’ slide show
Photo: Carrie Prejean in May, before her ouster as Miss California USA. (Getty Images photo)
FALLEN ROYALTY
The organizers of the Miss California USA pageant and their former beauty queen, Carrie Prejean, agreed this week to drop their lawsuits against each other, but that didn’t clear the air of a stench that their controversy created.
On Tuesday, pageant director Keith Lewis and pageant producer K2 productions issued a statement that “Carrie Prejean, Keith Lewis and K2 productions have dropped their claim against each other and wish each other the best in their future endeavors.”
On Thursday, TMZ reported that a videotape on Prejean masturbating was what led to the legal settlement. TMZ described a meeting of Prejean and lawyers for the two sides:
When the video started playing, Carrie’s first reaction was “that’s disgusting” … and Carrie denied it was her.
Then, the camera angle changed … and panned up to her face. She was caught red-handed … so to speak.
Carrie was rendered speechless and immediately began talking with her lawyer. We’re told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to drop her $1 million dollar demand.
The Web site also said it received a copy of the video some months ago, but did not post it because it was “so racy.”
The pageant “is paying around $100,000 to her lawyers and publicist — a fraction of her bills. She pockets nothing in the settlement,” TMZ said.
This morning, the Web site Big Hollywood reported that Prejean’s attorney, Charles LiMandri, had criticized “inaccurate and misleading” rumors about the settlement, which was supposed to be covered by a confidentiality agreement. He did not issue a denial of any specific reports, but instead stated:
In my 26 years of practice, I have never dealt with a situation quite like this. We came to a confidential agreement and yet within hours, rumors about what happened in the mediation were flying around the web and being accepted by news organizations as absolute fact.
Carrie and I plan to continue to honor our confidentiality agreement with the other parties. But I can tell you this; many of the rumors circulating are inaccurate and misleading.
Prejean was ousted as Miss California USA in June for alleged contract violations.
In August, Prejean sued over the ouster, saying that pageant officials targeted her because of her opposition to gay marriage.
In a countersuit, K2 accused Prejean of missing scheduled appearances as Miss California USA, lying about the existence of semi-nude photos, signing an unauthorized book contract, and using her position to campaign against gay marriage. The pageant organizers demanded repayment of $5,200 they had given her to pay for breast implants in preparation for the Miss USA pageant, where she placed second.
E Online reported about the sex tape:
The tape actually began making the rounds several months ago and was offered as an exclusive to various websites for the bargain-basement price of $10,000.
But even blogger Nik Richie of the porn-purveying TheDirty.com didn’t want anything to do with it.
“It was very graphic,” Richie tells E! News, “and our lawyers wouldn’t let us put it on the site.”
Since news of the sex tape emerged, celebrity bloggers such as Perez Hilton have reported that Prejean has been dropped as a speaker for tonight’s fund raiser for the New Jersey Family Policy Council, which opposes same-sex marriage.
But at midday today, an ad (pictured) on the group’s Web site was still promoting Prejean’s role in the event.
Recent posts about Carrie Prejean:
‘Miss Calif. and runner-up beauty’ slide show
‘The new Miss California’ slide show
Recent slide shows:
