Jul 6, 2007 8:07 am US/Central
Beauty & Blackmail: Miss N.J. Fights Photo Scandal
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Amy Polumbo won't say what the compromising photos she once posted on FaceBook.com show, but she is publicizing the package that she and beauty pageant officials received last week.
CBS
Miss New Jersey is being pressured to give up her crown…or else. Beauty queen Amy Polumbo says she's being blackmailed by somebody threatening make certain photographs public. But she's not backing down.
Her family says the questionable photos aren't even that revealing, saying she appeared in the Miss New Jersey Pageant wearing much less in the swimsuit competition.
But still, the blackmailer thinks the questionable photos of Polumbo might be enough to force her to turn in her tiara, and Friday is the deadline for meeting the demands.
Seeing a beauty pageant contestant in tears is getting to be a common occurrence, but this one's not taking the blackmail threats to her tiara lying down.
"It would certainly be easier to succumb to immoral, unlawful threats and quietly disappear, but what would that say about me?" said Polumbo.
Polumbo won't say what the compromising photos she once posted on FaceBook.com show, but she is publicizing the package that she and beauty pageant officials received last week.
The package contained a letter threatening to publicize the photos if she didn't relinquish her crown by July 6.
Her family says they are not nude pictures, and one source close to the family says the pictures show her engaging in what is called fully clothed "horseplay."
Her lawyer says some of the questionable pictures appear to have been doctored.
Anthony Caruso, Polumbo's lawyer, said, "We know Amy put certain photos of a fun nature on a Web site years ago."
Polumbo said, "Being crowned Miss New Jersey was a dream come true -- but that dream has turned into a nightmare."
As it has for so many others -- like last year's Miss New Jersey USA, Ashley Harder, who quit in January because she was pregnant; or Miss Nevada, who was booted from the pageant after racy pictures of her showed up on the Internet.
And don't forget about Miss USA Tara Conner's late-night drinking in Manhattan led her to the brink of losing her title in December.
The Miss America organization says it's up to its Garden State chapter to decide what to do. But all the New Jersey folks would say is that they are reviewing the matter before making a decision.
Of course, there is a first runner-up waiting in the wings. She said, "I hope this situation is resolved in the best way possible."
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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