http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30576251/
Miss California: I'll fight on despite nude photos
Carrie Prejean claims foes of her same-sex marriage views released them
By Mike Celizic, TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:38 a.m. ET, Tues., May 5, 2009
With partially nude photos of her popping up on Web sites questioning her Christian credentials, Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has fired back, claiming the racy pictures are just modeling shots and vowing to continue her battle against same-sex marriage.
"I am a Christian, and I am a model," Prejean said in a statement released overnight to the media. "Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith. I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be."
But Alicia Jacobs, a judge at the April 19 Miss USA pageant during which Prejean made her highly publicized statement opposing same-sex marriage, said the pictures go beyond what the Miss California pageant says are appropriate.
"I can assure you they were quite inappropriate, and certainly not photos befitting a beauty queen," Jacobs, a reporter for NBC's Las Vegas affiliate, told NBC News.
The images may also hurt her status as a spokeswoman for conservative causes. "She can continue to advocate for causes, but I don't think these causes are going to advocate for her," Ken Baker of E! News told NBC.
Six revealing photos
The Web site thedirty.com claimed that it had six pictures of Prejean. As of Tuesday morning, it had posted one on its site. The picture shows Prejean wearing nothing but a pair of revealing pink panties and smiling over her shoulder at the camera. Her breasts are covered by her arm.
The picture was deemed too racy to be shown on the TODAY Show.
It and the others in the set may also be too revealing for the Miss California pageant, according to a report filed for TODAY by NBC News' Miguel Almaguer, who reported that Prejean's contract with the pageant prohibits her from being photographed "in a state of partial or total nudity."