Prejean: I Was 'Dethroned' for Gay Marriage Answer

June 12, 2009 — -- Former Miss California Carrie Prejean spoke out for the first time about her recent dethroning, saying her crown was taken as a result of her comments on gay marriage during the Miss USA competition and not due to a contract dispute as Miss California officials have claimed.

"This has nothing to do with me against any particular group or nothing to do with me hating gays or whatever," Prejean told Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday. "This is because I answered a question at a beauty contest and now I am being punished. I am being dethroned because of the answer that I gave."

Prejean said the dethroning was just the culmination of growing disapproval by pageant officials.

"All I know is that from the moment I gave my answer on stage that night, I have had no support from [Miss California USA executive director] Keith Lewis or [former director] Shanna Moakler or anyone from the Miss California organization," she said.

Wednesday Prejean told Larry King Live she was stunned by her firing.

"They said that you are fired and I almost started to laugh because everybody has been cooperating and everybody has been getting along so well," Prejean said on CNN's "Larry King Live'" Wednesday. "This is the first I have heard of it. It's almost funny to me. I have no idea what's going on."

The Miss USA runner-up was officially fired Wednesday, this time with the blessing of pageant owner Donald Trump.

Miss California pageant officials said that Prejean was fired because of continued breach of contract issues.

"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," executive director Keith Lewis said in a statement sent to ABCNews.com Wednesday. "After our press conference in New York we had hoped we would be able to forge a better working relationship. However, since that time it has become abundantly clear that Carrie is unwilling to fulfill her obligations under our contract and work together."

Prejean's attorney, Charles Limandri, shares her doubts concerning the pageant officials' reasoning.

"This is all kind of a big shock... It is not true that she has not been cooperating. Something is going on; the truth is not being told. I don't understand where this is coming from, or why," Limandri said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. "For people to say that she breached her contract, that she is not doing speaking engagements is false. She did one last Sunday in Las Vegas and it went really well... No one said to her, 'Carrie, you are not doing what we want you to do.'"

Prejean's representative did not respond immediately to requests for comment from ABCNews.com.

Even without her crown, it's doubtful Prejean will be hurting for work. Prejean claims that she already turned down a lucrative deal to pose for Playboy, an offer that was brought to her by Lewis, TMZ.com reported. Lewis reportedly admitted he passed along the $140,000 offer, but only because he passes along any and all offers in accordance with his contractual obligations.

Prejean also has no plans to stop speaking her mind.

"I definitely see me speaking out and taking a stand for what I believe in, and I want to encourage Americans of all ages to not be silent and to speak out and state your beliefs and not be afraid," she said.

The Donald Doesn't Come to the Rescue

Even Trump, the real estate mogul who co-owns the Miss USA organization and saved Prejean from losing her crown last month, did not stand in the way this time.

"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 the same statement. "Unfortunately it just doesn't look like it is going to happen and I offered Keith my full support in making this decision. Carrie is a beautiful young woman and I wish her well as she pursues her other interests."

Miss California runner-up Tami Farrell will immediately take over the crown and Prejean's responsibilities as Miss California. The current Miss USA Kristen Dalton and Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza will also lend a hand in making appearances.

Trump Supported Prejean Last Month

Last month, Trump stood by the scandalized beauty queen, who ignited a firestorm of scrutiny when she spoke out against "opposite marriage" at the 2009 Miss USA pageant and semi-nude photos of her appeared on the Internet.

"[Prejean] gave a very, very honest answer when asked a very tough answer at a recent pageant. It's the same answer that the president of the United States gave. It's the same answer that many people gave," Trump said on May 12 at a press conference. "If her beauty wasn't so great, nobody really would've cared."

About the 21-year-old beauty queen's semi-nude photographs, more of which appeared online,Trump added: "We have determined that the pictures taken are fine. ... In many cases, they were very lovely pictures."

Prejean spoke after Trump, thanking the organizations behind the pageant along with her family and her supporters. Without mentioning his name, she lashed out at Perez Hilton, the Miss USA pageant judge who asked what she thought of same sex marriage on April 19.

"Three weeks ago I was asked a politically charged question with a hidden personal agenda," Prejean said. "I was given a question asking for my opinion and I stated my personal belief. Immediately after the pageant, judge no. 8 began a cultural firestorm in the media ... he was trying to be self-promoting and hateful.

"On April 19 on that stage, I exercised my freedom of speech," Prejean continued, fighting back tears. "And I was punished for doing so. This should not happen in America."

Despite feeling like she was unfairly victimized, Prejean said she forgives Hilton and everyone who criticized her following the pageant. Asked to respond to Prejean's statement, Hilton said simply, "She forgives me and I forgive her."

Ahead of the news conference, Prejean's mother, Francine, came out in defense of her daughter, telling the blog MomLogic.com that the beauty queen is "being persecuted for speaking her opinion" about gay marriage. Prejean also told Christian radio host Dr. James Dobson that Satan tried to tempt her with a question about gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant.

Since the question-and-answer session from that pageant that thrust her into the spotlight, Prejean's story has evolved so fast that it's hard to keep track of all the details. This should help clear things up. Below, a timeline of the controversy surrounding Prejean, from the Miss USA 2009 pageant to today.

Timeline of Carrie Prejean Controversy

April 19: Pageant judge Perez Hilton asks Prejean, "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?" Prejean replies, "I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

April 19: Following the pageant, Hilton posted a video on his blog condemning Prejean's answer and calling her a "dumb b****." He later apologized in the blog, offering to take Prejean out for coffee and a "talk."

April 20: Hilton tells ABCNews.com, "I was floored. I haven't said this before, but to her credit, I applaud her for her honesty. However, she is not a politician, she's a hopeful Miss USA. Miss USA should represent everyone. Her answer alienated millions of gay and lesbian Americans, their families and their supporters."

April 20: Prejean defends her comments via multiple media outlets and tells "Access Hollywood" that her sister is a gay activist. "My sister is a second lieutenant in the Air Force and she is a gay rights activist," Prejean says, adding that her sister is not gay. "She supports gay people, she supports gay marriage. My beliefs have nothing to do with my sister or my mom, or whatever."

April 26: Prejean visits churches, including San Diego's The Rock Church, which was active in the campaign to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriages in California last year, to tell her side of the pageant story. She tells The Rock Church's congregation that pageant officials asked her to apologize to the gay community.

April 27: In response to Prejean's comments, Lewis issues a statement saying, "Given the fact that Carrie Prejean's first act upon returning to California was to headline five services at a church that promotes homosexuality as both unnatural and abnormal, we stand by our concern for her individual image and look forward to a time in the near future when she can put down her personal agenda and assume the responsibilities associated with being Miss California USA."

April 29: Prejean's sister Christina tells ABCNews.com she was surprised the beauty queen called her a gay activist. "I have never even given myself that title. I was kind of surprised that she mentioned it, but I think she wanted to get the point across that our family is tolerant," Christina Prejean says, adding that she only recently got involved in gay rights activism.

April 29: Shanna Moakler, former co-executive director of the Miss California Miss USA pageant, confirms reports that the Miss California organization paid for Prejean to get breast implants weeks before the Miss USA pageant.

Timeline of Carrie Prejean Controversy

April 30: Prejean tells NBC's "Today" show that she's going to Washington to work with the National Organization for Marriage, saying the union between a man and a woman is "something that is very dear to my heart."

May 1: The National Organization for Marriage issues a statement saying that although she appears in an ad on the organization's Web site, Prejean "does not work for the National Organization for Marriage. She is a spokesperson for her own views."

May 4: A topless photograph of Prejean in pink underwear appears on TheDirty.com. TMZ.com claims it also received topless photographs of Prejean but didn't publish them because the beauty queen's representatives said she was 17 years old when the photos were taken.

May 5: Prejean says TheDirty.com and others are trying to belittle her religion, telling The Associated Press the semi-nude photos were released "surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith. ... I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos."

May 6: Representatives for the Miss California USA organization confirm they're investigating whether Prejean violated the 12-page contract all contestants are required to sign before the November state contest. The document prohibits whoever holds the title of Miss California from making personal appearances, granting interviews or making commercials without permission from pageant officials and gives the pageant's directors the right to revoke her crown for breaching any of the document's provisions.

May 6: On "The View," Trump says Prejean's answer to the question of gay marriage posed during the Miss USA pageant was not so far off base. "That's the belief of 70 percent of the people, so it wasn't a horrible answer," he says. "That was her belief and she's taken hard hits. She's more famous because of it. No one is talking about the young woman who won. Nobody knows who she is."

May 11: Prejean's mother, Francine Prejean, tells MomLogic.com, "My daughter is a bright, beautiful, strong woman. ... She was raised in a Christian home. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Now she's being persecuted for speaking her opinion."

May 11: Miss California USA co-directors Lewis and Moakler unveil a new PSA promoting the organization and appoint the pageant's first runner-up, Tami Farrell, the organization's ambassador, effectively negating Prejean's role as the face of the pageant. Lewis asserts he wants to move on from Prejean, "get back to the business of beauty," and have Trump make the call on Prejean's fate.

May 12: Prejean tells Christian radio host Dr. James Dobson that Satan tried to tempt her with a question about gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant.

May 12: Donald Trump announces Prejean will keep her crown.

May 12: More photos of Prejean semi-nude emerge on TMZ.com, as TheDirty.com posts new pictures of her and Olympic champion Michael Phelps. The two are rumored to be dating.

May 13: Moakler resigns following Trump's press conference. "I cannot with a clear conscience move forward supporting and promoting the Miss Universe Organization when I no longer believe in it or the contracts I signed committing myself as a youth," Moakler says in a statement issued by her publicist. "I want to be a role model for young women with high hopes of pageantry, but now feel it more important to be a role model for my children."

June 10: Prejean is relieved of her duties as Miss California USA.