Here's What Really Bothers Shanna Moakler

Moakler says Prejean rewarded for being a victim

Enough is enough -- Shanna Moakler isn't about to let the pillow feathers fly over the controversy involving Carrie Prejean.

"I'm a grown woman -- I'm not a 21-year-old sorority sister going to have a pillow fight," Moakler said Thursday during an interview at NBC Studios in Burbank. "I'm here to take care of her. What happened after, it was like watching a runaway train. I would want to have helped her be more knowledgeable about what she was speaking about, so she didn't come across as ridiculous. In some interviews, she came across as ridiculous."

Moakler, 34, won the Miss USA crown in 1995. She called it quits as the state's pageant director Wednesday, one day after a meeting at which Donald Trump announced Prejean could keep her Miss California crown.

Trump said the state reps met with Prejean and her people for hours before the announcement.

"I don't want to say it was a heart-to-heart, but it was the first time we all had the opportunity to get together," Moakler said. "Carrie had handlers and PR people that were there. People we'd never dealt with before. It was very unusual circumstances. We're supposed to be her guidance, her handlers, her helpers.

"There was a lot of high tension because there was no communication and a lot of chefs in the kitchen. I think at the end of the day, everyone wants this to be resolved, everyone wants this to be a happy ending."

After the news conference, Moakler said she went back to her hotel room and cried.

"It was such an amazing opportunity for me to give back to other young girls," Moakler said. "I wanted to change the image of pageantry so these girls weren't looked at like dummies."

The controversy began April 19 at the Miss USA pageant when Prejean, 21, told celebrity judge Perez Hilton that marriage should be between a man and woman during the question-answer segment of the contest. Prejean later said she would be a part of a campaign opposing same-sex marriage for the National Organization of Marriage.

Then there were the semi-nude photos of Prejean. The beauty queen claimed the photos were leaked because of her same-sex marriage stance.

"I don't think the 1st Amendment was the core issue, I don't think gay rights was the core issue, and I don't think her sexy pictures are the core issue," Moakler said. "The issue is her contract, that she did breach, and there were no ramifications. She needed to own up to it.

"She will never take responsibility for herself. It's always someone else's fault. That's what she did at that press conference with Mr. Trump and she was rewarded for it."

At Tuesday's news conference, Trump also addressed the turmoil involving Prejean and the co-directors of the Miss California USA, Moakler and Keith Lewis.

"They were having some miscommunication with Carrie," Trump said. "The communication, I believe, is totally solved. They are really getting along very well. They've been meeting for hours in my office and I really think that they are and have developed a relationship that they didn't have before.

"And I think that Carrie will go down as somebody that Shanna and Keith will be very proud of in the end."

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