News

By Kathleen Gilbert

PRINCETON, New Jersey, November 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In response to a scandal brewing around the existence of at least one pornographic video depicting and self-authored by traditional marriage icon and former Miss California, Carrie Prejean, The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) this week that Prejean “never worked for” the organization, but that they are “grateful” for Prejean's help in drawing attention to marriage, and called the buzz over the scandalous material “weird, sad and ugly.”

In August, Prejean had sued Miss California producer K2 Productions for alleged religious discrimination, claiming that they had stripped her of her title based on her support for traditional marriage. Prejean had set off a national uproar earlier this year after she affirmed the natural definition of marriage in response to a question during April's Miss USA pageant.

However, Prejean reportedly dropped the lawsuit against K2 Productions for a confidential settlement after the sex tape was revealed.  She called the tape “the biggest mistake of my life” on FOX News last week, and said she had sent it to her now ex-boyfriend when she was 17. 

“I was a teenager at the time and never did I think it would ever come out. But it was bad judgment and it's embarrassing and it's humiliating to be talking about this now on national TV if you can imagine,” said Prejean.  Shortly after dropping the suit, the former Miss California's memoir was released, entitled “Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate and Political Attacks.”

Carrie's ex-boyfriend later claimed to gossip site TMZ that she was actually 20 when the video was taken, that numerous other racy videos and pictures exist and that Carrie had called him shortly after the first video was released asking him to lie and say she was 17 at the time they were shot.

Ever since Prejean won notoriety for her pro-marriage answer on the Miss USA Pageant contest, The National Organization for Marriage has hosted Prejean as a speaker at various venues.  They also put together a commercial entitled “No Offence,” based on Prejean's pageant answer. As of Monday an item featuring Prejean on the front page of their website has been removed.

When LifeSiteNews.com asked National Organization for Marriage (NOM) president Maggie Gallagher whether her organization was currently affiliated with Prejean, Gallagher said, “Carrie has never worked for the National Organization for Marriage.”

“Out of the goodness of her heart, when we cut an ad 'No Offense' featuring the vicious attacks on Carrie – and by extension every California voter who supported Prop 8 – she agreed to appear at our press conference to call attention to our message,” Gallagher added.  “I remain grateful to her for that.”

Regarding the scandal, Gallagher said she had no personal knowledge of the allegations, but called the affair “weird, sad and ugly.”

“I cannot believe that reputable media (like the Today show) are featuring said boyfriends as they dump intimate details about Carrie,” said Gallagher.  “Admittedly, I am getting kind of old.  But in my old-fashioned view, boyfriends who release such information on ex-girlfriends are scummy.  I don't understand the newsworthiness of these allegations.”

Gallagher continued: “7 million Californians voted for Prop 8.  I have no doubt that quite a few of them are people who committed sexual sins of various kinds.  Why is this one 22-year-old girl carrying the whole weight of that on her young shoulders?

“The whole episode is weird, sad and ugly.  No-one should face this kind of invasion of their privacy simply because they believe marriage is the union of husband and wife. Period. I hope the people gleeful about this attack are enjoying their Pyrrhic victory.  What they have done says far more about them than about Carrie, who is a not-unusual California 22 year old.”

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Carrie Prejean Sues Miss California USA for “Religious Discrimination” Over Marriage Defense 

The Saga Continues as New Miss California Says No to Same-sex “Marriage” 

Prominent Gay British Politician Jokes about Killing Miss California for Her Opposition to Same-Sex “Marriage” 

Miss California Sparks Controversy for Supporting True Marriage, Called “Dumb B*tch” by Homosexual Judge