Sex tape revelation forces Carrie Prejean to drop suit

The Carrie Prejean saga goes from bad to worse. The former Miss California, who was sacked from the role after her views on gay marriage became known, was suing the organisers - Miss California USA - for $1m in damages. She claimed she had beenb fired unfairly and that they had wrongly disclosed confidential information about her breast implants.

The pageant organisers' countersuit was that Prejean had violated the terms of being Miss California, which demand that contestants guarantee that they have not appeared in nude videos or pictures in their past.

And to prove that Prejean had broken the terms, they came to a meeting on Friday armed with a surprise tape of the 22-year-old engaged in a "solo" sex act.

According to the gossip site TMZ.com, which claims to have seen the video some months ago, the "X-rated version of Home Alone" was "too racy" to be posted. This didn't stop TMZ from describing the scene at the meeting between Prejean and Miss California USA and their respective lawyers.

"When the video started playing, Carrie's first reaction was 'that's disgusting'," reports TMZ.com, which claims to have spoken to some of the lawyers present.

To begin with there was no face in shot and Carrie denied it was her. "Then, the camera angle changed ... and panned up to her face. She was caught red-handed, so to speak. Carrie was rendered speechless and immediately began talking with her lawyer.

"We're told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to drop her $1m demand."

In a joint statement issued afterwards, both sides said they "wish each other well in future endeavours".

Within hours of the discovery of the sex tape being made public, Prejean was dropped as a guest at a fundraiser being held by the right-wing group, Defenders of the Family. It is not clear whether this was at the group's behest or at Prejean's own request.