Miss California Official: Carrie Prejean Lied In Church
April 28 2009, Published 11:10 a.m. ET
Roger Neal, a spokesman for the Miss California pageant, says beauty queen Carrie Prejean lied when she said state pageant officials told her to apologize to the gay community and refrain from discussing religion on the talk show circuit.
The 21-year-old Miss California, who told Miss USA judge Perez Hilton she opposed gay marriage, has created a nationwide controversy with her comments.
She told the congregation this past weekend at her home church, San Diego's Rock Church, that she leaned on her pastor for support as the controversy grew and pageant organizers began pressuring her to speak against her beliefs in hopes of avoiding a public relations crisis.
"She chose to stand up in church and in front of the media and say something that was a lie," Neal said Monday. "No one ever said, 'You must apologize to the gay community,' and no one ever said, 'Don't talk about your faith or your religion.' Those two things never came out of anybody's mouth."
Neal said, as an adviser for Miss California in the competition, he told Prejean to emphasize she didn't mean to offend anyone. (Photo: WENN)
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