Two days after her daughter told Larry King that the veteran newsman was being “inappropriate” during her appearance on “Larry King Live,” mom Francine Prejean is defending Carrie.
In an interview with Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush for Access Hollywood and “The Billy Bush Show,” Francine said she thought Carrie’s words were “great.”
“She broke a record,” Francine said. “In 52 years, no one’s ever done that to him. And a 22-year-old girl did it. That is funny, Billy, that is really funny.”
Larry told Access on Thursday that in 52 years in journalism, no one had ever called him inappropriate.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of asking an inappropriate question. I ask good questions, I thought it was a fair question,” Larry said on Thursday.
“He must feel like a little wimp, which is what he is, in my opinion. That’s just my opinion, no offense to anyone out there,” Francine continued on Friday.
When Billy asked if Carrie was looking for a fight heading into her appearance on “Larry King Live,” the mom said, “Well, the way the interview was set up was that it was just going to be between Larry and Carrie. Once again, it didn’t play out that way. The producers on the show promised us that Carrie would be with Larry. No call-ins, no surprise guests, no surprise phone-ins and as usual, they couldn’t keep their word. They couldn’t keep their commitment so when the calls started coming in, she thought it was time to bow out, which was the agreement. She stuck to the agreement.”
On Thursday, Larry denied having such an agreement. The newsman took a viewer call after Carrie had already removed her microphone in an effort to change the subject.
“Nobody on my show ever heard of it. That’s what they told me,” he told Access. “I asked the producers — normally I’ve never heard an agreement like that. If they did, it’s above my pay grade.”
A “Larry King Live” spokesman also told Access on Thursday that the show does not and did not agree to not allow phone call-ins.
However, Francine stood by her daughter.
“In my opinion, she’s coming across beautiful, she’s coming across strong, she’s very intelligent. She’s not afraid of these high-powered idiots that are on TV every night, the gossip mongrels,” Francine said. “She’s not afraid of them and I’m proud of her for that. How many 22-year-olds do you know that can stand up to these people?”
Asked if Carrie would continue to do interviews in support of her new book, “Still Standing,” Francine said, “ I think it’s just so interesting how people are interested in a little 22-year-old girl that entered a beauty pageant and said that she believed that marriage is between a man and a woman.
“There’s a lot of love. A lot of people love Carrie. I would think more people love her than hate her,” she concluded.
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