Miss USA Pageant Paid For Perez Hilton Boob Job

Controversy continues to dog the Miss USA pageant, with TMZ.com reporting that in exchange for his services as a judge, the pageant paid for breast augmentation surgery for blogger Perez Hilton. Confronted by the accusations, Ken Lepzig, the co-director of the Miss USA Pageant, admitted to helping Hilton get the boob job.

"We assisted when Perez came to us and voiced the interest in having the procedure done," Lepzig told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "We want to put him in the best possible confidence in order to present himself in the best possible light on a national stage.

"Also, let's face it, those boobs needed some work."

Hilton, for his part, has been unapologetic. "First of all, they're not boobs, honey, they're pecs," he said. "And I love them. I just play with them all day long." Then he licked his right pointer finger and touched it to his chest while making a 'sizzle' noise.

Hilton, a notorious gossip blogger known for outing closeted celebrities, created waves while judging the Miss USA Pageant by asking Miss California Carrie Prejean her opinion on same-sex marriage. Prejean responded that she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman, an answer she says she believes cost her the Miss USA crown.

But Hilton says he only asked her about that topic when pageant officials nixed his original question, "What do you think of my new boobs?"

"Because I'd put my fake boobs up against her fake boobs any day of the week," said Hilton, adding, "Um, not literally - I don't want my new fake boobs anywhere near Miss Skankifornia there."

Then he did a 'Z snap' and added, "Go on with yourself!," apparently in reference to no one in particular.

Prejean, who since losing the pageant has become something of a poster child for the anti-gay-marriage movement, recently admitted that the Miss California Pageant had in fact paid for her own breast augmentation surgery. But she said that nice breasts were important for pageant contestants, in that they helped show why they deserved the scholarships more.

"Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other," she said. "We live in a land where you can choose big breasts or opposite breasts. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that breasts should be big, no offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and I believe they should be big. Thank you."

In response, Hilton held up a pictures of Prejean during the swimsuit competition, on which he had drawn big white drip marks coming off her bosoms. "Sometimes I even crack myself up," he admitted.

Meanwhile, TMZ.com Managing Editor Harvey Levin says his site will continue to follow the story of Perez Hilton's breasts, "until the truth is told, or until we get more hits than he does." Hilton responded by saying, "Oh no he din't! Uh-uh snappity snappity!," and further playing with his own breasts.

Shanna Moakler, Former Miss Universe Brook Lee Rally for Anti-Prop 8 Ad Campaign

Shanna Moakler, former Miss USA and current co-executive director of the Miss California pageant has made it very clear how "hurt and upset" she was when her candidate Carrie Prejean voiced that she believed "marriage should be between a man and a woman" at the Miss USA pageant last weekend.

But this time it is Moakler who is standing up for what she believes in – the right for gay and lesbian couples to marry. Pop Tarts was exclusively on-set in North Hollywood on Tuesday evening as the reality starlet and the co-executive state pageant director Keith Lewis brought together Miss California and Miss USA 2006 first runner-up Tamiko Nash and last year’s Miss California Raquel Beezley to shoot a NO H8 Campaign in the hope of raising awareness and eventually having Proposition 8 over-turned in California.

The campaign was started in November last year by photographer Adam Bouska and so far almost 400 people have shot the trademark image of an individual on a white backdrop with duct tape over their mouth. (But of course when it is three former sash sisters under the lights and camera, three sparkling tiaras are also a necessity).

"It’s important for us right now to participate in this, especially given the conversation surrounding Miss California. We’re here showing we’re a family, we agree to disagree and support our beliefs," Lewis told Tarts, as Moakler (who was in the make-up chair) nodded in agreement. "It’s been a difficult time but we want to show that there are a lot of different families, I was raised by a single mom, and I am dad to two children that are being raised by two moms. Can’t we all just love each other and get along and celebrate the fact that people are able to find true love?"

But contact with Carrie Prejean since the now infamous incident went down is still questionable.

"We are working through it; we’re a family in resolution. We really want to give Carrie an opportunity to express her beliefs, the Miss California system is about empowering women to be strong and independent and stand up for whatever they believe in," Lewis said. "So as soon as Carrie is done explaining her beliefs we really look forward to her coming back to our platform. I’m proud that she was able to stand there and utter whatever it was that came out of her mouth. I’m a 45-year-old man and I don’t think I could explain myself to millions of people."

However the pageant controversy has made Lewis learn even more about his own convictions too.

"I was raised Christian and I struggled with it my whole life, I think a lot of people struggle with the Bible and homosexuality," he added. "But the Bible I have now come to know is an amazing historical document that was written in a time by people who had a different understanding of what our world was. We live in a world that’s very different at this point, our understanding is very different."

1997’s Miss Hawaii-turned Miss USA-turned Miss Universe, Brook Lee, also shot for the ad and took on a "Prejean Pageant" inspired theme by donning a white evening gown and sash that said "Miss Equality."

"Being a former Miss Universe I was at Miss USA last week, I was there when everything went down and experienced the blow-back afterwards. People were really shaken up," Lee told Tarts. "When I came back to L.A. it was prevalent in everyone’s mind and I wanted to do this campaign because a visual image lasts so much longer than words. I also brought my two-year-son to do it, activism stars early. My husband was here with us and he shot too."

And although the stunning pageant princess acknowledged that "everyone is entitled to their own opinion", she believes Carrie definitely did not deserve the coveted crown of Miss USA.

"The judges I spoke to said they applaud her for being so vocal, but she didn’t answer the question, she wasn’t consistent. They didn’t mark her down because they are some liberal majority and were trying to punish her for her Christian values," she explained. "But for her to go in the press and say she lost the crown because of her answer is playing with the truth. I heard she’s saying she wants to run for office now? Maybe she’ll team up with Palin."

Even "The Amazing Race" winner Reichen Lehmkuhl stopped by the studio to be snapped.

"We feel Proposition 8 takes away the equal rights for an entire group of people who are tax-payers and important people in society and one of those people happens to be me," he said. "I am here to support against a campaign that I feel is a campaign of hate. We just want equal rights; we don’t think we’re morally superior."

Pageant official: We paid for Prejean’s implants

Shanna Moakler confirms that group paid for Miss California’s breast enhancement.

Shanna Moakler, co-executive director of the Miss California Organization, has confirmed the group behind the pageant paid for Miss California Carrie Prejean’s breast implants, weeks before she competed in Miss USA.

In a new interview with Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush, Shanna confirmed the news.

“Did you guys pay for it?” Billy asked Shanna directly.

“Yes,” Moakler said. “We did.”

The organization paid for Carrie’s breast enhancement prior to her competing in the Miss USA pageant, which was held in Las Vegas, almost two weeks ago.

“It was something that we all spoke about together,” Shanna said referring to herself, Carrie and Keith Lewis, Shanna's co-executive director. “It was an option and she wanted it. And we supported that decision.”

Shanna, a former Miss USA herself, defended the Miss California Organization’s decision to pay for the elective surgery.

“Breast implants in pageants is not a rarity. It’s definitely not taboo. It’s very common. Breast implants today among young women today is very common. I don’t personally have them, but you know — they are,” she added.

Shanna supported Carrie’s plastic surgery, however, she had a hard time standing behind Carrie’s opinion against gay marriage in her answer to a question from Perez Hilton during the Q&A portion of the Miss USA competition.

“The night of the show, I wrote Carrie and I congratulated Carrie and I also told her her answer, for me, did hurt feelings,” Shanna told Billy.

Carrie is still involved in a media frenzy, sparked by her controversial response at the Miss USA pageant, and Shanna claims the young woman has been avoiding responding to her Miss California bosses.

“We’ve tried really hard [to get in contact] and she keeps referring us to her mother and her PR person,” Shanna claimed. “That’s also sad for me… because, you know, there’s no hate here. I don’t hate Carrie Prejean. I supported her and I still stand behind her.”

When asked if stripping Carrie of her crown was a possibility, Shana said they need to see how things work out.

“I don’t want to fire her! I think she’s a great, young girl, and I got into pageants, because I want to help young girls. I want to guide young girls. I know what pageants [did] for me and I know what it can do for young women and also working within the community,” Shanna said.

“I don’t want to fire Carrie. I want her to use her platform, because this is her platform, I didn’t know she was this passionate about it … I’m glad I know now and I support and will help her, but …” she trailed off.

“Since you can’t communicate, when do you say, ‘Alright, come back and follow the Miss California itinerary and get on board or we’re going to fire you?’” Billy asked.

“I guess we’re all going to have to wait and see how that plays out because I don’t have the answers for that,” Shanna said.

Former Miss Idaho's take on the crown controversy

It has been days since the 2009 Miss USA Pageant; still it lingers in the media spotlight. The odd thing is not the amount of attention this pageant has attracted, but rather the fact that our new Miss USA, Kristen Dalton, isn't the source of the attention. Instead, first runner-up Miss California, Carrie Prejean, has become the hot topic of discussion on American airwaves following a controversial on-stage answer.

Pageants define themselves as an opportunity for women to promote their individual causes and celebrate their unique accomplishments. The Miss USA Pageant has been recognized as being a premier international pageant organization helping to develop the future of bright young women, testing their knowledge of current events, and their ability to successfully represent the United States in the Miss Universe competition.

This is where the controversy begins. Should Miss USA be a woman who speaks her mind, and thus follow what she believes in her heart; or should she be politically correct as a representation of our diverse country? The pageant heated up after celebrity judge, Perez Hilton, asked the final on-stage question to Miss California, "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage, do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?, " Hilton asked.

Instant debate sparked when Prejean responded with the following, "Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage, and you know what, in my country and in, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there. But that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman."

Prejean has since reported to several national news outlets that she believes she lost the crown because of her response, but still would not change her answer if given another chance.

After this falling out, the question must be asked, should pageantry move away from questions that put contestants on the spot, defending their personal values and beliefs?

Or are these questions in place to test the ability of our future queen to appropriately represent the entire U.S. culture on a national level?

The fact is, Carrie Prejean was not deprived of the crown based solely on her answer to Mr. Perez's question.

The Miss USA Pageant celebrity judges included a collection of 12 media savvy personalities from different professions who know what it takes to be in the spotlight. This year's judges put their vote on Kristen Dalton, as being the all-around package. As a collective they believed she would best represent our country out of the 51 contestants competing.

Reevaluate the facts behind the controversy and take a look at the woman who was actually crowned Miss USA. There may be further insight as to why she captured this honor.

Kristen Dalton is a 22-year-old graduate from East Carolina University. She served as Vice-President of the Psychology Honor Society and Vice-President of Leadership for ODK National Leadership Honors Society

at ECU.

Dalton is also dedicated to mission work around the world and plans to assist with an Aids Campaign in South Africa.

by Lisa Hamman