It was just six months ago that Elyse Umemoto, a Pierce County resident, stood among the finalists at the Miss America pageant and was named second runner-up.
On Wednesday the reigning Miss Washington stood before cameras at a downtown Tacoma news conference to apologize and defend herself against what she called “foolish” photographs that have appeared on the Internet.
A Miss Washington official said the 24-year-old Umemoto will retain her title.
The photos, which show Umemoto drinking, partying and making obscene gestures, showed up Wednesday on TMZ, a celebrity gossip Web site.
At a brief news conference at the Hotel Murano, she said the pictures were taken when she wore the crown of Miss Seattle, before she won the title of Miss Washington a year ago. Some of the photos show her carousing with friends while wearing a crown.
“This is me genuinely apologizing, this is me genuinely admitting that I am only human,” said the Pacific Lutheran University student, who’s taking a year off school.
Umemoto said the pictures were taken in “private settings” and were stolen.
She did not take questions after making her statement, and officials whisked her out of the room.
Mike Miller, executive field director of the Miss Washington Scholarship Organization, said the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office has been notified about the alleged electronic theft. Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said he wasn’t aware Wednesday afternoon that the office had been contacted.
Miller said Umemoto, who now lives in Puyallup, would not be punished; it wouldn’t be appropriate to take her crown, he said, because she didn’t act illegally or in a way that constitutes serious misbehavior.
He said the contract for contestants includes that they may be dismissed for “moral purposes.” The 10-member Miss Washington board decided not to remove the title, he said.
“We are convinced that Elyse has learned a brutal but effective lesson and that any additional sanction we might impose will be overreacting,” Miller said. “This will all be over in a short time, and the world will little notice or long remember what has happened.”
He noted that the pictures were taken before she was crowned Miss Washington, but that the board’s decision would have been the same regardless of the timing.
The 2008 Miss Washington pageant is scheduled for this weekend in Tacoma, when Umemoto will crown a new winner.
Umemoto, who grew up in the Yakima County town of Wapato, said the pictures were taken when she was at ease and “clowning around.”
“Most of these pictures were taken when I was among friends I could trust,” she said. “Clearly someone has violated that trust, and I am deeply hurt by such an act of betrayal.”
Umemoto isn’t the first beauty queen to have embarrassing material suddenly exposed in the era of mass media and the Internet. The sanctions have varied.
Miss America Vanessa Williams lost her crown in 1984 after compromising pictures appeared in Penthouse magazine. In December 2006, Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees lost her title after nude pictures circulated on TMZ. That same month, Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, admitted to cocaine use but was allowed to retain her title.
Miller said there’s a lesson to be learned, and not just for Umemoto. Anyone in the public eye has to realize the responsibilities that come with the position.
“When you become a role model and a public figure, you’re on all the time,” he said, “and if you take the risk of allowing yourself to be at ease and act in a way that you would never act in a public forum, in this day and age with technology, there is always a chance it would show up somewhere.”
