Still under pressure from her blackmailers, Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo, decided to release the pictures herself. She said pictures of other people claiming to be here were being put on the internet, and she wanted to put a stop to that by releasing her photos. The photos were shown on Thursday morning on the Today show. Though she didn’t say it in as many words, theoretically this pulls the rug out from under the blackmailers. The pictures were all around very tame, as far as scandalous pictures go. Polumbo is fully clothed in all of them. There’s one where she’s wearing jeans, with her legs spread in the air in a manner that is more goofy than dirty. In another photo she’s holding small pumpkins up to her chest. She explained that her friend teased her about having a flat chest and that’s how she reacted. She said that the photos showed her behaving in a way that is not “ladylike” but certainly not foul or inappropriate.

Frankly I think this all sounds pretty legitimate, and it’s really gutsy to take a stand in such a public forum. Polumbo will find out today if she can keep her crown. Her attorney, Anthony Caruso said , “Amy and I are very optimistic that the pageant committee will take the proper course and support her.” All of the photos were originally on her Facebook page, access to which was restricted to her friends. Newsday reported that, “At least two of the board’s five directors said this week they do not consider the photos to be a big problem. One board member, Mark Soifer, described the photos as ‘kids having a good time at a party.’”

Polumbo noted that she felt “’sick to my stomach,’” about the whole affair. There were a few photos in the bunch which showed her drinking, though she insisted that she was of legal age in all of them. Considering what a big deal this blackmailing group made out of her photos, they all seem pretty tame. Miss New Jersey has conducted herself with a great deal of dignity during the whole debacle, and she should be commended for that. There’s nothing unseemly or abnormal in her pictures, just the same goofy ones we all have. The only difference is that she’s famous (now). People keep saying she shouldn’t have put the photos on her Facebook site, but I disagree. She wasn’t Miss New Jersey or Miss Anything when she had a profile on the site, and she’d taken it down long before any of this. Facebook is pretty private, you’re supposed to put photos up, and hers were completely normal. They were goofy, not disgusting, which makes me feel badly for her. I’ve never once cared about pageants, but I think she’s conducted herself with such dignity that she should win.

Thanks to MSNBC for these pictures.

Note by Celebitchy: This sounds like a publicity stunt to me. The worst picture is 2″>