Miss California USA Pageant Director Keith Lewis explained the decision to fire then-Miss California Carrie Prejean in the following statement: “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.”
But In an exclusive interview with Big Hollywood, Ms. Prejean’s attorney, Charles S. LiMandri, who says that he and his client learned of the firing during a phone call from gossip site TMZ, vehemently denies those allegations.
“She greeted troops, ‘Fox and Friends,’ she was lined up for the Special Olympics this weekend. It is pure BS.” He continued that neither the Miss California USA Pageant organization nor Miss USA owner Donald Trump had ever taken issue with the frequency of her media appearances: “They never said it was a problem.”
According to Mr. LiMandri, the real reason behind the firing was three-fold: His client’s beliefs regarding same-sex marriage, a possible book deal with his client (a deal approved by Mr. Trump), and the fact that Ms. Prejean refused to pose for Playboy Magazine or participate in a docudrama promoting same-sex marriage.
The email below [click to enlarge], provided to Big Hollywood by Mr. LiMandri, is from Mr. Lewis to Ms. Prejean inquiring about her interest in doing a photo shoot for Playboy Magazine involving “partial nudity.”:
This second email [click to enlarge], also provided by Mr. LiMandri, is the response from Mr. LiMandri to Timothy Shields, an attorney representing Mr. Lewis:
Mr. LiMandri states that Ms. Prejean was always enthusiastic about making appearances as Miss California and representing the Miss California pageant organization and the state of California. “They are not being honest that she wasn’t cooperating,” Mr. LiMandri said.
As an example of the excitement and enthusiasm Ms. Prejean’s appearances generated, Mr. LiMandri forwarded the following email [click to enlarge] from a participant in last month’s Las Vegas Jewelers’ Convention:
Mr. LiMandri stated emphatically, “[Ms. Prejean] is being persecuted for the [same-sex marriage] answer she gave. They wanted her out of the way so that she couldn’t be standing in opposition to their same-sex marriage agenda. And a lot of people in the gay community wanted her out. I told the Miss USA organization, she is not anti-gay, she is just pro-traditional marriage. She never wanted to be part of that fight. She got thrown into it when Perez Hilton asked her that question.”
The proposed book deal might have been another factor in Ms. Prejean’s firing. According to Mr. LiMandri, Ms. Prejean had been given permission from Donald Trump to go ahead with the deal but this may have alarmed Mr. Lewis and Pageant co-director Shanna Moakler: “Keith Lewis made a decision that he was going to fire her because Lewis did not want her wearing a crown and sash while she was doing a book deal telling the truth about him.”
Contributing writers: Alexander Marlow and John Nolte