179 I WANT TO BECOME A PAINTER - OF WOMEN'S BREASTESES

Miss Universe Body Paint Photos Stir Controversy

By Lindsay Robertson | Monday, August 16, 2010, 11:04 AM

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Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih

Miss Universe

This year, the Miss Universe pageant is using photos of contestants, including Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih, in nothing but body paint to promote the August 23 event, and it has one former pageant organizer crying foul.

Angie Meyer, described as a "former pageant-organization worker," expressed her dismay with the photos to Fox News: "It's alarming that this has been turned into a Playboy-esque masquerade, she said. "By implementing topless photos as part of the pageant process, they're putting applicants in an extremely compromising position."

The Miss Universe organization, which is co-run by the Trump Organization and NBC, says they arranged the Las Vegas photo shoot to celebrate the diversity of this year's contestants. In a statement to Yahoo!, Lark-Marie Anton, vice president of marketing and public relations for pageant, defended the promotion: "The contestants who compete at Miss Universe are diverse, as they represent more than 82 countries around the globe. Many of their cultures embrace nudity," she said.

[Photos: More from the controversial body paint shoot]

Pointing out that each contestant chose how much skin to show, and calling the photos "a form of artistic expression," the final word from the organization was: "We feel the images captured are fashionable and cutting edge!"

[Flashback: Another Outcry Over Racy Miss USA Photos] 

The Miss USA pageant, also co-run by the Trump Organization and NBC, did a similar stunt and faced similar scrutiny for their "Waking Up in Vegas" promotion for that pageant in May, which featured black-and-white photos of the Miss USA contestants wearing lingerie. Ratings for the event were slightly up from the previous year.

Tune in to watch the pageant on August 23.