Miss America crown goes to New Yorker
A 23-year-old blonde from Brooklyn, N.Y., won the Miss America crown Saturday night after responding to a question about armed guards in schools, saying she opposed fighting violence with violence.
En route to her victory in the Las Vegas pageant, Mallory Hytes Hagan also tap danced to James Brown’s “Get Up Off of That Thing,” strutted down the runway in an asymmetrical white gown, and donned a revealing black string bikini.
Hagan defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third. The aspiring cosmetic company executive wins a $50,000 college scholarship and gets the crown for one year.
Moments before she won, “Good Morning America” weatherman Sam Champion asked her if schools should hire armed guards in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shooting.
“I don’t think the proper way to fight violence is with violence,” Hagan replied. “I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period.”
Jones, CBS ‘move on’ after remarks
The teenage actor Angus T. Jones is expected back at “Two and a Half Men” next week, with CBS accepting his apology for calling the popular comedy “filth” and “very inappropriate.” “We move on,” CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said on Saturday.
Jones, 19, plays the “half” in the popular comedy, portraying actor Jon Cryer’s son.
Jones later said he was sorry if his remarks in an interview with a religious organization showed an indifference to his colleagues or a lack of appreciation for his opportunity. He didn’t publicly change his evaluation of the comedy, which is heavy on sexual jokes and innuendo.
The birthday bunch
Comedian Rip Taylor is 79. Actor Billy Gray (“Father Knows Best”) is 75. Actor Richard Moll (“Night Court”) is 70. Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is 52. Country singer Trace Adkins is 51. Actress Penelope Ann Miller is 49. Actor Patrick Dempsey is 47. Actor Orlando Bloom is 36.