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Miss USA Pageant Releases Ultra-Racy Photos

Contest is under fire for sexy pictures

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2010 10:57 AM CDT

(Newser) – If the Miss USA pageant disqualified all the contestants who had appeared in racy photos—a la Carrie Prejean—it would probably be left with no contestants. The pageant has come under fire for releasing black and white publicity photos of barely clad contestants sprawled on a bed in provocative poses . Fox News even deems Miss Virginia and Miss Kansas “topless,” though they are wearing (unbuttoned) shirts.

At least one state director got phone calls from contestants who “were concerned, knowing that they had to participate in order to be competitive,” she says, but another says the photos are just plain “hot.” A rep for the organization says the sexy shoot was designed to break the “pageant princess” stereotype and project a “hot, yet tasteful” image. (For more opinions on whether this is classy or crass, click here.) To see all the photos, click here.

Miss Arizona Brittany Bell is shown in a photo from the Miss Universe website.
Miss Arizona Brittany Bell is shown in a photo from the Miss Universe website.   (Miss Universe)
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We need titleholders with a strong moral character who know the difference between what we’re trying to sell in an image and what happens in real life. I don’t want to see my Miss California working in fishnets on top of a bar.
- Keith Lewis, Miss California director

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 29 comments
Sharkbite44
May 12, 2010 7:00 PM CDT
Oh hey, there is a war going on the middle east, oil spill harming environment, and poverty is everywhere. And this is news?
pioneer7
May 12, 2010 7:41 AM CDT
THE PAGEANT WILL NOT APPEAR ANY LONGER IN OUR LIVING ROOM! WHO IN GOD'S NAME WANTS TO LOOK AT CLEAVAGE AND FAT (BREASTS) HANGING OUT???? IT'S DISGRACEFUL AND MAKES THEM ALL LOOK LIKE HOOKERS. WE DON'T NEED THIS CRAP! OUR RELATIONSHIPS SATISFY US BELIEVE IT OR NOT! OF COURSE THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE FOR SEX ADDICTS AND PERVERTS!/................GET A GRIP!
AClotfelter
May 11, 2010 9:25 PM CDT
HOW are these photos "ULTRA" racy??

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