Former Miss California Carrie Prejean has admitted making a sex tape for a boyfriend as a teenager and is describing the episode as "the biggest mistake of my life." But she's hardly the first beauty queen to endure public embarrassment. Here are several of her more notable predecessors:
Vanessa Williams
In 1983, Williams became the first black winner of the Miss America pageant. Ten months later she was pressured to resign her crown when Penthouse magazine published nude photos of her posing with another woman. Williams says that the pictures were innocent--that she was merely helping a photographer she worked for conceptualize a shoot--and that they were never meant to be made public. She initially filed a lawsuit against Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, but later dropped the case to focus on her music career. She has subsequently enjoyed great success as both a singer and actress.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Katie Rees
After being named Miss Nevada USA in 2006, Rees lost her title when photos emerged of her flashing her breasts and her thong underwear and kissing other young women in a nightclub. Last year, she was arrested for assaulting a cop after a traffic stop and subsequently detained in Australia on suspicion of drug trafficking (no charges were filed).
Lindsay Evans
The 2008 winner of Miss Louisiana Teen USA pageant became a household name when she skipped out on a restaurant bill and left behind her purse containing a small bag of marijuana. When she returned to retrieve the purse, she was arrested for both theft and drug possession. She lost her title ten days before the end of her reign.
Marjorie Wallace
The first American ever to win the Miss World pageant quickly became a tabloid celebrity linked to various famous men including married Welsh crooner Tom Jones and British soccer star George Best. According to the New York Times, she resigned her crown after Best was charged with burglarizing her home. She went on to enjoy later success as a talkshow host.
Tara Conner
Although Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, was one of the worst-behaved pageant queens, she was not stripped of her title thanks to the support of business mogul (and owner of the Miss USA franchise) Donald Trump. Days after newspaper reports that the party girl had tested positive for cocaine, Trump announced Conner was going to rehab, but would keep her title.
Lauren Caitlin Upton
The 18-year-old Upton, representing South Carolina in the Miss Teen USA 2007 competition, became an overnight internet sensation for her incoherent, rambling response to a question about why so many Americans can’t locate their own country on a map. She replied: "I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as in, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children."
(Watch Lauren Caitlin Upton give her timeless response about Americans and maps)
Amy Polumbo
Miss New Jersey 2007 pre-empted greater scandal when she announced that would-be blackmailers were threatening to release old photos from her Facebook page if she refused to relinquish her title. Polumbo later released photos of herself drinking and partying. "They're not that bad, but they were meant to be private," Polumbo said.
