New Miss Cali Reacts to Carrie Prejean's Ousting

Tami Farrell, along with Keith Lewis, head of the Miss California organization, make the morning show rounds to discuss Prejean's dethroning

By Breanne L. Heldman Jun 11, 2009 5:55 PMTags
Tami FarrellJesse Grant/Getty Images

In the aftermath of Carrie Prejean's firing by Donald Trump and his West Coast cohorts, the Miss California Organization proudly trotted out their new princess, Tami Farrell, on Today and the Early Show this morning.

She stuck to the company line on both shows, tossing out phrases about being "honored," "moving forward" and making herself "available to the program" and charities and all that jazz.

"I was a little hesitant to be stepping into the line of fire, I'll  be honest," she said in her choicest moment on Today. "There's been divisive questions. I've been brought in to try and unify our state. I'm not being silenced for my beliefs, but I just think that this isn't a battle that anybody can win, so I'm going to do my best to just refocus it on some of the other aspects."

However, the head of the Miss California pageant, Keith Lewis, who appeared alongside his new queen on both morning shows, had plenty to say…

He said that Prejean missed "tens and tens and tens" of appearances and insists the beauty wasn't dethroned for her political leanings.

"I think it's time for us to move back this political platform that she was fired because of her beliefs, because that dog just won't hunt," he told Today.

He compared letting the beauty go to laying off an employee at any job.

"I think if you tell your boss, 'I'm not gonna do the job, I'm gonna do whatever I want, you can't tell me what I’m gonna do,' I think that you expect that you're boss is gonna say to you, 'You know what? You're probably not supposed to be in this job anymore," Lewis explained on the Early Show. "It was just very difficult for us, and we tried to meet halfway, and it was obvious that wasn't going to happen.

"Finally, there was a point when the organization really had to stand up and say, 'You know what? It's time for us to move on and get back to the business of beauty.'"

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