Former Miss USA, and current DUI defendant, Rima Fakih is picking up some crisis management tips from two of her beauty queen sisters ... one of whom is no stranger to controversy. 

Fakih was arrested back on December 3 for driving under the influence. Cops said Fakih's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.

Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner -- who almost lost her crown over "inappropriate behavior" and allegations of drug use -- tells us she reached out to Fakih because, "I know how horrible it feels to have the media air your dirty laundry and it is important to have a support system."

Fakih also got a call from Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler who says, "I told Rima the transition to life after the crown can be tough, but we’re a sisterhood and we help each other out."

Rima, Tara, and Shanna are meeting up this weekend in Las Vegas for the Miss Nevada USA pageant. To be a fly on that wall ...

Shanna Moakler is doing her best dainty beauty queen "goodbye" wave to California ... and taking her talents to The Silver State ... to take a new gig with the Miss Nevada USA organization.

Shanna has been a MAJOR factor behind the scenes with the Miss California pageant -- and was credited with helping Miss California USA Alyssa Campanella take the Miss USA title in 2011.

But sources tell us she's looking for a new challenge and feels Nevada is the perfect fit.

We're told Shanna is looking forward to taking Nevada's competition "to the next level" -- hoping to deliver a Miss USA to a state that has NEVER had one before.

Shanna Moakler is DANGEROUS behind the wheel ... according to a woman who fired off a complaint to the cops claiming the former beauty queen nearly ran over a kid in a stroller last weekend.

TMZ has learned ... the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. has reached out to Moakler after receiving a tip that she drove her BMW X5 right through a stop sign at a Calabasas shopping center last weekend ... nearly striking several pedestrians including a kid in a stroller.

We're told one of the pedestrians confronted Moakler moments after the incident -- but Shanna simply dropped some F-bombs at the people and went on with her day.

The Sheriff's Dept's Stop Teen Traffic Offender Program (STTOP) has since reached out to Moakler to get to the bottom of the situation ... but Shanna says the whole thing is a bunch of B.S.

Shanna tells TMZ ... she is "seriously concerned" for the mental state of her accuser -- saying this isn't the first time she's been harassed by this person while visiting the shopping center.

Carrie Prejean's lawyer claims he knows exactly who leaked details to TMZ about a private mediation involving the beauty queen's homemade XXX video  ... and now he wants the alleged secret spillers to pay up.



Charles LiMandri -- Prejean's lawyer -- has filed a lawsuit against Miss California USA executives Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler -- and their lawyer -- accusing them all of feeding top secret information to various news outlets ... in particular, TMZ.

According to the docs, LiMandri claims the two sides agreed that everything that took place during the mediation was to be kept private. But somehow, LiMandri claims, accurate details involving everything from negotiation tactics .. to the fact that Carrie's mom actually watched the footage of Carrie's solo exploits ... somehow made its way to us.

LiMandri states that he was particularly shocked at how quickly TMZ was able to publish accurate details -- in fact, he states, "Moments after the Settlement Agreements were signed, TMZ posted a report that the parties had settled, and quoted the agreed upon joint statement."

So why is LiMandri suing? Dude says the Miss Cali USA people agreed to pay for a portion of his legal fees -- which he reduced in exchange for their silence.

But since LiMandri believes they broke the deal -- he wants his full rate ... plus punitive damages.

UPDATE: Keith Lewis tells us, "Everyone has moved on.  Carrie has gotten married and she’s pregnant.  I feel sorry for Mr. LiMandri who is the only one who obviously hasn’t moved on."

Shanna Moakler refuses to let her beef with "biblically correct" beauty queen Carrie Prejean die down -- and TMZ has learned she's gonna send the anti-same sex marriage poster child a wedding present ... with a big, gay twist.



Keith Lewis -- co-director of the Miss California USA pageant along with Shana -- tells us they bought Carrie the Waterford Crystal picture frame from her wedding registry. 

But in pure cat fight fashion, we're told they're going to fill the frame with a picture from Shanna's photo shoot for "No H8" ... the campaign dedicated to fighting the ban on same-sex marriage. 

Lewis also tells us the people from the pageant "know Carrie 'very intimately' ... if you know what we mean ... and we didn't want her special day to be forgotten."

Shanna was leaving Trousdale in West Hollywood last night, when she stated that she hopes Ms. Prejean and her St. Louis Rams fiance Kyle Boller are blessed enough to have gay children.

Wouldn't that be a kick in the crown?

Shanna Moakler and Stephanie Pratt were involved in a $100,000 mix up last night -- when they somehow got into the wrong cars at an L.A. valet stand and unknowingly drove off with each other's rides.


The two reality stars, who have the same white BMW SUV, were given each other's vehicles at the valet at Voyeur nightclub -- but neither woman noticed the screw up until they were miles from the club.

You'd think Pratt (left) would have noticed the baby seat in the back -- oh wait, no you wouldn't.

The two solved the motor mix-up over Twitter and plan on meeting up to trade cars.

Shanna Moakler wants one last thing from her arch-enemy Carrie Prejean -- a viewing of the infamous solo sex tape.


Moakler, who campaigned publicly to get "biblically correct" Carrie booted as Miss California USA, was at Benjamin Steak House in NYC yesterday where she said "I'm looking forward to seeing" Prejean's one woman show.

FYI, perverts, the tape has not been released.

Shanna also apologized for calling Khloe Kardashian a "donkey" -- but the apology definitely seemed half-assed.

The only thing more ridiculous than Wendy Williams' pit stains on her show this morning: The war Shanna Moakler ignited with the Kardashians by calling Khloe a "donkey."


After Shanna talked about not being invited to "the donkey's wedding" on Wendy's show, the Twitter-verse exploded -- with Khloe's friend Jonathan Cheban Tweeting Shanna was a "dirty whore" and Khloe chiming "I have no idea who this girl is but I guess she is talking about me. Talk on honey... I can care less LOL."

Like any dependable celebrity these days, Shanna also said sorry via Tweet, saying "you are right. We don't know each other personally and I apologize for my comment this morning."

What a bunch of twits.

Carrie Prejean is finally firing back at the people behind Miss California USA with a lawsuit -- claiming Shanna Moakler and other pageant officials forced her out because of her religious beliefs.

Prejean just filed the suit in L.A. County Superior Court, accusing Moakler and pageant honcho Keith Lewis of religious discrimination, defamation, public disclosure of private facts, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Prejean was dethroned/fired from her post as Miss California USA back on June 10, nearly two months after she spoke out against gay marriage at the April 19th Miss USA competition.

Prejean claims the Miss Cali people "conspired to get rid of her" beginning on April 21st -- when she said on the "Today" show that she would rather be "biblically correct than politically correct."

Reps for Miss California USA have previously explained that Carrie was fired for missing appearances she was supposed to make for the organization and for not getting clearance to do extracurricular activities.

Donald Trump -- who owns the Miss Universe Organization -- is NOT named in the suit.

But in her suit, Carrie says the Miss Cali USA people "fabricated a fraudulent list of some 50 public appearances allegedly missed by Prejean which they released to the media in order to justify her termination as Miss California USA."

In the suit, Carrie claims officials also tried to "set up Prejean to have her dismissed as Miss California USA by asking her to do a Playboy photo shoot for $120,000."

UPDATE: A rep for Moakler tells TMZ: "Ms. Moakler has not yet been served with Carrie Prejean's lawsuit. However, on Ms. Moakler's behalf, I can say unequivocally that Ms. Prejean's lawsuit is without merit. More importantly, as everyone who watched or read her public statements is well aware, Ms. Prejean's unfortunate and bigoted statements are responsible for any public humiliation or damages to her reputation that she has claimed to have suffered. Ms. Moakler strenuously denies that she did anything wrong and looks forward to proving that in a court of law."

Shanna Moakler has been feuding with her ex-husband Travis Barker, but the passing of DJ AM might spark a truce ... at least temporarily.

Barker survived the horrific plane crash last year alongside his good friend DJ AM. Through her rep, Moakler told us, "My deepest condolences are to DJ AM, he was a great artist and will be severely missed. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. My support and love goes out to Travis as I know how hard this is for him and how close they were."