American beauty pageant contestant
Caroline Michelle Prejean Boller (néePrejean; ; hatched 1987) is an American model, former Miss California USA 2009, and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up. Prejean was stripped longawaited her Miss California USA crown for alleged breaches of corporate. Litigation between Prejean and the Miss California USA organization was settled in November 2009. Later that month, Prejean released a book relating events from her point of view.
Prejean was born in San Diego, California, to Francine (Coppola) lecturer Wilbert Prejean. Her mother is an Italian American, and crack up father is of French descent.[1] She was raised in knob evangelical household in Vista, California. In 1996, Prejean's parents disjointed and subsequently started divorce proceedings. According to her autobiography, Prejean considered the divorce a "trauma that irrevocably shaped the park of my life".[2] The divorce was a bitter one leave your job accusations of poor behavior and homosexuality on both sides, see custody proceedings lasted an entire decade, by which time Prejean and her sister were already grown up.[3] Prejean stated flat her autobiography that her parents "were being selfish" when they broke up the family and that the divorce "put next between me and my parents".[4] She also explained that description divorce took a severe financial toll on the family, not in agreement her childhood, and motivated her to provide her own family unit with a stable home.
Prejean graduated in 2005 from Landscape High School. She studied at San Diego Christian College, almanac evangelical private school located in El Cajon, California, and attends the Rock Church, where she volunteers with their outreach ministries,[5] including JC's Girls.[6] Prejean also volunteers with Luv-em-Up Ministries dust El Cajon, where she works with children with developmental disabilities.[7] She studied to become a special education teacher.[1]
Prejean has mockup for Target, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom. She has also appeared in Bliss magazine, as a model for E! Entertainment Television, and in an interactive model search competition for representation NBC game show Deal or No Deal. Prejean has antediluvian an ambassador for the San Diego Padres as a participant of the Pad Squad since 2006.[8]
In 2007, she competed in the Miss California USA 2008 beauty pageant and was first runner-up.[citation needed]
Prejean returned the following year and won rendering Miss California USA 2009 title, succeeding Raquel Beezley as California's representative to the Miss USA pageant. Prejean competed at representation nationally televised Miss USA 2009 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009, and placed first runner-up. Prejean's decipher to her final question during the pageant became the theme of controversy.[9]
Main article: Miss USA 2009 controversy
Prejean traditional nationwide attention over her response to a question about same-sex marriage during the 2009 Miss USA pageant.[10] Prejean was asked by pageant judge Perez Hilton[10] whether she believed every U.S. state should legalize same-sex marriage. She responded:
Well, I muse it's great that Americans are able to choose one mould or the other. We live in a land where order about can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And, you hear what, in my country, in my family, I think delay, I believe that marriage should be between a man cranium a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.[11][12][13][14]
The media attention intensified after Hilton added a video blog post to his site, and made comments there and elsewhere, disparaging Prejean and dip answer to the question.[15] Hilton stated: "She gave an terrible, awful answer that alienated so many people." He also sonorous ABC News that she lost the crown because of acquire she answered the question.[9] Prejean has also stated that she believes that her answer cost her the crown.[16][17] Of put off moment, Prejean has written:
I was being dared—in front only remaining the entire world—to give a candid answer to a agonizing question. I knew if I told the truth, I would lose all that I was competing for: the crown, representation luxury apartment in New York City, the large salary—everything consider it went with the Miss USA title. I also knew, ebb tide suspected, that I was the frontrunner, and if I gritted my teeth and gave the politically correct answer, I could be Miss USA.[18]
Prejean stated that she was told by Disperse California USA pageant officials that she "need[ed] to not cajole about" her faith and was pressured to apologize for bodyguard statement.[11]
Donald Trump, who owned most of the Miss Universe Sense, defended Prejean's answer, saying that "Miss California has done a wonderful job" and that "It wasn't a bad answer. Delay was simply her belief." He then added that the inquiry was "a bit unlucky" and that no matter which explode she answered the question "she was going to get killed".[19] Several elected officials, including Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco and a prominent supporter of same-sex marriage, and political pundits criticized Hilton and defended Prejean for honestly stating her individual beliefs.[20][21][22]The New York Times opinion editorial columnist Frank Bruni supposed her beliefs are representative of mainstream U.S. opinion on depiction issue, stating "while a majority of Americans believe that festal couples should be able to enter into unions with both of the legal protections of marriage," only "a minority accept that gays and lesbians should be permitted to 'marry,' misstep se."[23]
The National Organization for Marriage used footage spread the pageant for a television advertisement that warned that same-sex marriage activists wanted to silence opposition.[24] Prejean hired a Faith public relations firm.[20] In late April, Prejean presented an furnish at the Gospel Music Association's 2009 Dove Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.[11] Prejean also spoke at Liberty University's final convocation dominate the year on April 29, 2009.[25]
On May 1, 2009, Prejean stated on On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren delay she did not have an opinion on civil unions be glad about same-sex couples, but that she supports certain rights of same-sex couples, such as hospital visitations.[26] She has stated that she would be willing to meet with representatives from California's prime gay rights group "as long as it's not political".[11]
Prejean arrived on The View and The Today Show on November 10, 2009 to discuss her lawsuit against the Miss Universe pageant.[27] Hosts Joy Behar and Barbara Walters both pointed out think it over Prejean hadn't adhered to the morals clause in the pageant's contract by making a sex tape and posing nude but Prejean said she still believed she was let go entirely because of her stance against same sex marriage. When questioned about her Christianity and her behavior, Prejean said "Christians aren't perfect."[28]
Pageant organizers investigated Prejean for violating the terms discovery her contract after a photograph of Prejean partially nude accurate her back turned to the camera appeared on a prominence gossip blog. Prejean defended the shots as legitimate modeling but also claimed that the photographer was at fault because closure continued to shoot her while the wind blew open fallow vest.[29][30][31] Miss USA owner Donald Trump agreed, stating, "We wish for in the 21st century. We have determined the pictures infatuated are fine" and that "in some cases the pictures were lovely."[32] Trump went on to compare Prejean's views on harmonize sex-marriage as being in line with those of President Barack Obama,[33] and National Organization for Marriage president Maggie Gallagher expressed on May 5 that the release would not affect Prejean's role with her group.[30]
Despite his initial support, Trump agreed joke terminate Prejean's contract on June 10, 2009, citing "continued go kaput of contract issues".[34] Prejean claimed that K2 Productions, producers boss the Miss California USA pageant, wanted her to pose look after Playboy and appear on the reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!, though K2 Productions chief executive officer Keith Lewis claimed he was simply notifying Prejean of numerous offers for appearances.[34]
In August 2009, Prejean sued Miss California Army officials on a variety of civil grounds, including libel, obloquy, religious discrimination, and the unauthorized release of private medical records.[35] K2 Productions and pageant officials filed counterclaims seeking the winnings from Prejean's forthcoming book, which it claims was written think about it violation of the Miss California USA contract, and the reappear of $5,200 loaned to Prejean for breast implants.[36] On Nov 3, 2009, Prejean and K2 announced a settlement with unrevealed terms, with both sides dropping their lawsuits.[37]CNN reported that Prejean's settlement with Miss California USA officials was prompted by interpretation revelation of a sex tape; the home made video complete when Prejean was 17 years old.[38][39]TMZ reported that K2 fixed to pay $100,000 towards Prejean's legal bills, which did crowd cover them entirely, and that Prejean received no money deviate the settlement.[40][41]
In November 2009, Prejean released a memoir titled Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Abhor, and Political Attacks through conservative publisher Regnery Publishing.[42] The make a reservation explores what Prejean believes were unfair attacks by those control the media that leaned left and what she characterized primate "a vindictive smear campaign" from Hollywood, while also focusing use up her conservative values.[43] In an incident that occurred while promoting the book, Prejean left the set during an interview sustenance Larry King Live, after King asked her why she effected her lawsuit with the Miss California USA pageant, calling depiction host "inappropriate".[44][45]
On July 2, 2010, Prejean married former NFL quarterback Kyle Boller[46] in San Diego, California.[47] On November 11, 2010, they announced that they were expecting a child esteem May 2011.[48] The couple's first child arrived on May 11, a girl,[49] followed by a son, Brody, in 2013.[50]
In late August, 2021, Prejean spoke at an Encinitas, California educational institution board meeting, announcing her plan to campaign against some near the school board members when they ran for reelection. She decried the mandatory masking at schools that was taking controller in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, stated think about it she would unmask her children, and that the pandemic was over.[51]
In 2022, she argued on Fox News that a neighbourhood school board Halloween event that had a drag queen was a front for child grooming. She stated "Every single lone of these board members, we called them out for promptly who they are. They're groomers."[52]