Major news networks are aghast that the official Miss USA promotional photos, which show the dainty ladies posing in various positions in lingerie, have "gone too far." During The Today Show on Tuesday, as Gothamist notes, "host Matt Lauer channeled his inner Kramer by telling the pageant's president that the photos 'seemed designed to generate controversy and buzz about the pageant.' NBC, incidentally, will be broadcasting the pagaent from Las Vegas Sunday night 'with Today’s Natalie Morales and celebrity chef Curtis Stone handling the hosting duties.'"

The sexy photos of all of the 51 contestants, snapped by fashion photographer Fadil Berisha, are not just about black-and-white masturbation material. Oh no. According to Berisha, as seen in the making-of video below, its all about being inside the contestants' souls. "I'm inside their soul when I'm pulling things out of them, and I get emotionally exhausted," says Berisha.