Carrie Prejean Sex Tape Selling Her New Book?

The Carrie Prejean sex tape has become headline news as she embarks on a face-saving campaign. Besides, former Miss California Carrie Prejean has books to sell. The controversy swirling around her solo sex tape is publicity well timed to get her name back into the public arena just as her book, Still Standing, dropped onto the bookshelves of America (Monday, November 9). She told Fox News' Sean Hannity Monday night, "They can call it whatever they want to call it, but it was the biggest mistake of my life." But was it?

According to TMZ, which broke the story, the existence of the sex tape cost Carrie Prejean at least a million dollars, which was the reported amount of her lawsuit against Miss California USA. Prejean claimed she had be dismissed from the organization on religious grounds, a claim Miss California denied, stating that the former Miss California had been released because of breach of contract.

The lawsuit was the eventual result of the fallout of Carrie Prejean's answer to Perez Hilton's question on same-sex marriage at the 2009 Miss USA Pageant. Prejean later claimed that her answer cost her the crown, but pageant officials and insiders later stated that Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton would have won the pageant anyway (rumors that Carrie Prejean was leading going into the final round were alleged to be untrue). Prejean embarked on an unauthorized radio and television interview tour, defending her Miss USA Pageant answer and heterosexual marriage. Prejean became the darling of both the religious Right and political conservatives. Topless photos surfaced. Then more topless photos (after Prejean claimed there were no more and lied about her age -- she said she was 17; she was not -- in the nude photos).

Carrie Prejean was stripped of her crown on June 10 after Miss California USA accused her of missing scheduled appearances.

During the negotiations in the discrimination lawsuit, the attorneys for Miss California USA produced the sex tape. Sources told TMZ that at first Prejean denied that it was her image pleasuring herself on the sex tape video, but when the camera caught her face, she walked out of the negotiations.

But Carrie Prejean has a new book out, entitled Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate, and Political Attacks. The blow of losing a million dollars might be softened by a good round of interviews.

She told Hannity it was "bad judgment." She was young. She "never thought it would come out." Then the disclaimer, "It's embarrassing, and it's humiliating to be talking about this of national TV."

Then why was she talking about her sex tape on television? One might think an embarrassed and humiliated person would retire from the public arena for awhile. But days after the sex tape video's existence was confirmed, the embarrassed and humiliated Carrie Prejean appeared on "Hannity" and "Today" to tell her side of the story and tell everyone just how embarrassed and humiliated she really was...

The lady doth protest...

She told Meredith Vieira on NBC's "Today," "All I know is there is a campaign against me trying to silence me. They tried to embarrass me. The tried to humiliate me. They tried to attack me. And I'm still standing."

Where have we heard that before?

Oh, yeah -- her book: Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate, and Political Attacks.

Carrie Prejean has made a career since her controversial statement in April at the Miss USA Pageant of talking about how everyone is trying to silence her. After hundreds of interviews and a tell-all (but does she mention the sex tape?) book of her "ordeal," the former Miss California has not been silenced by contracts, her employers, embarrassment and humiliation.

Perhaps Carrie Prejean should have titled her quasi-autobiography Still Standing: How Playing The Martyr At Every Step Has Kept Me The Center of Gossip, Hate, and Political Attacks.

******

Sources:

Amazon.com
TMZ.com
"Hannity," Fox News Television
"Today," NBC Television
NBCLosAngeles.com