Shanna Moakler
Gossip

Earlier today, Carrie Prejean actually filed a lawsuit against Miss California pageant officials Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler.

The attention-starved beauty queen claims this pair discriminated against her religion and caused extreme emotional distress.

In response, Moakler's attorney, Mel Avanzado, has issued a statement that comes to the same conclusion any sane person would arrive at: Prejean is an idiot.

"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."

Choose a side in this feud:

Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler have fallen off the peaceful bandwagon.

The contentious couple had gone all summer without going off on one another in public. But, like any good bender, Barker has now broken that truce in a extreme fashion.

Last night, as he dropped off son Landon and daughter Alabama at Moakler's home in Rhode Island, the Blink 182 demanded that his nanny remain with the children. Moakler refused the request.

Barker flipped out, began to scream, and police were called to the scene.

The many sides of Travis Barker: doting father, occasionally nice boyfriend. Not pictured: insane ex-husband. [Photos: PacificCoastNewsOnline.com]

"When Travis refused to go, Shanna called the police," an anonymous source told Life & Style. "They gave Travis a choice: Leave or get arrested. So he left. But he wasn't happy. He's already Twittered about Shanna."

He sure did! Here's what Barker wrote about his ex-wife:

My babies [sic] mama is a pile of sh*t.

Snaps. Yo. Expect Moakler to respond on MySpace in 3... 2... 1...

Carrie Prejean is really gonna hate this.

A trio of celebrities - one gay, one straight and one bisexual - has come together to help film a PSA on behalf of the NOH8 Campaign.

The video below is a response to today's ruling by California's Supreme Court, which held up that state's Prop 8 ban against gay marriage.

We're advocates for equal rights, but it's hard to see how anyone can take your cause too seriously when Tila Tequila - a woman who forced potential suitors on her VH1 reality show to eat pig vagina in order to prove their worth as a love interest - is a prominent voice for it.

A couple weeks ago, Shanna Moakler resigned her post with the Miss California pageant, citing the lying, manipulative, deceitful ways of winner Carrie Prejean.

Ever since, the former Miss USA champion has faced a mountain of criticism, most referring to her as a hypocrite for calling out Carrie on posing naked. After all, didn't Shanna bare all in Playboy?

"For the people who are like, 'How can you say this? You have this persona, and your personal relationship is a mess, and you posed for Playboy,'" Moakler said to Us Weekly, "I'm not a title holder. I'm not in a contract. I posed for Playboy years after I was a title holder."

That's a good point; though the naked pictorial still gives Moakler slightly shakier ground to stand on.

As for Prejean, please tell us how you really feel about her, Shanna.

"Carrie is very, very nice when she wants something. And when it's her turn to do her end of the deal, it's very complicated. She's late, she doesn't show up. It's always a problem. I can deal with difficult, but I  can't deal with nasty and she was getting nasty."

Moreover, Moaker says Prejean sent her hurtful emails after the press conference, taunting Shanna and saying she "should be thanking [Prejean] for extending my fifteen minutes."

Moakler also said Carrie sent several biblical quotes "that I felt were inappropriate."

Wait, Prejean tried to impose her personai views on someone else? That doesn't sound like her at all!

When Shanna Moakler stood next to Donald Trump at this week's press conference, as he announced the fate of Carrie Prejean, Moakler says she had every intention of remaining on Miss California's side.

But "the turning point for me, I guess, was when I was watching the Today show and she was sitting there continuing to lie," Moakler, who resigned as a pageant official yesterday, told Ryan Seacret this morning. "And it's obvious to everybody that the lying is still going on. I just couldn't stand behind her."

You're far from alone, Shanna.

This is awkward. Shanna Moakler watches Donald Trump milk every ounce of publicity out of the Carrie Prejean controversy.

Considering her fame, attention and growing, narrow-minded fan base, Moakler added that Prejean was "basically rewarded for lying."

Listeners to Seacrest's radio show could hear Moakler get especially emotional as she talked about stepping away from her post.

"How am I supposed to aggressively promote someone that I don't even know if they're being truthful with me," she asked. "I work hard. I worked hard on that pageant and this has been a very, very difficult decision for me because I love the Miss California organization and I love my family over there and the friends that I've made and the commitment that I had. I just don't think the situation right now is right."

Remember when Shanna Moakler put her arm around Carrie Prejean and released a statement that said she and the Miss California organization were ready to move on with its victor?

That was so yesterday!

Today, Moakler has released another statement... announcing her resignation from the pageant board. It reads:

"Since the press conference yesterday, I had a chance to think about what has taken place, and I feel that at this time it is in my best interest to resign from the Miss California USA organization.

"I cannot with a clear conscious move forward supporting and promoting the Miss Universe Organization when I no longer believe in it, or the contracts I signed committing myself as a youth. I want to be a role model for young woman with high hopes of pageantry, but now feel it more important to be a role model for my children. I am sorry and hope I have not let any young supporters down but wish them the best of luck in fulfilling their dreams.

We think Carrie Prejean is an insincere fame whore. But Shanna Moakler (left, topless) might not be in a position to judge her.

Earlier today, at a press conference announcing the confirmation of Carrie Prejean as Miss California, that pageant's co-director said there would be peace in the Middle East if we sent Donad Trump over there.

Keith Lewis may have been exagerrating, but The Donald does appear to have brokered talks between Shanna Moakler and Prejean.

"Thanks to Donald Trump, we were able to have a meeting with Miss Prejean and her family alone for the first time since the pageant," Moakler, the co-executive director of the pageant, told People. "We were able to sit down and communicate and vent our frustrations. I am confident that she will stay true to the contract. I'm looking forward to returning to L.A. and starting fresh." 

Moakler added that the problem her and other officials had with Prejean was NOT related to her well-known beliefs on gay nuptials.

"Our issue was never about her opinions about same-sex marriage or the pictures. Our issue was with her complying with our agreement. When you sign the contract, we ask you to show us everything you are being offered. That wasn't happening. After the pageant, we lost control of our titleholder."

An understandable issue, no doubt.

Now, Moakler says, the air has been cleared and everyone can move forward. It's all she and Lewis ever wanted in the first place.

"She's part of our family. We care about her. But she's only 21 and we felt like she was being exploited. These people were not around for Miss USA, but they sure were afterward. They jumped on her bandwagon and tried to exploit her. We are trying to protect her."

Earlier today, the co-directors of the Miss California pageant - Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler - read statements and answered questions from the media regarding the recent Carrie Prejean hullabaloo.

A couple staff members from The Hollywood Gossip were in attendance; and while we'll get to the confusing details in a moment, here are the main points to take away from the press conference:

• Tami Farrell has been installed as the new Miss California Ambassador/Replacement for Prejean Regardless of What Donald Trump Decides Tomorrow.
• Lewis and Moakler are really, really mad at Prejean.

The event began with Lewis reading a statement, during which he said Miss California officials played no role in choosing the judges for Miss USA, nor did they have any indication that Perez Hilton would ask Prejean about gay marriage.

Basically, he distanced the state pageant, and all subsequent remarks about Carrie, from her controversial beliefs.

Next, Lewis went to town on the National Organization of Marriage. He said it was a "shame, shame, shame, shame" that an outside organization would help a young woman violate her contract (which called for no interviews or affiliations without permission from Miss California officials).

Lewis blamed the organization for attaching itself to "any glimmer of an ally," with no regard for the effect it would have on that individual's life. He even called out the President of the National Organization of Marriage, Maggie Gallagher, for supposedly, personally pocketing 42% of the donations sent in for her cause.

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Never have beauty pageants made so many headlines for reasons other than their bikini bodies.

In the wake of the Carrie Prejean controversy, Shanna Moakler - the director of the Miss California USA pageant - has posed in a new ad supporting gay rights.

The former Miss USA and Playboy centerfold shot a print ad this week in which she slams Proposition 8, the initiative that bans gay marriage in California.

A pair of former Miss California contestants - Raquel Beezley and Tamiko Nash - join Moakler in the poster below.

"I believe Prop 8 lead a campaign of confusion and never made clear what was being asked of the people," Moakler said in a statement. "I find most people have a problem with the word marriage. What I hope for is helping others understand 'civil union' and then one day helping people learn 'marriage' is something not God, not the state or country can solidify, but between two people who love each other."

Thoughts on Moakler's stance?

As a former Miss USA, Shanna Moakler does possess a smidgen of credibility when addressing the controversy regarding Carrie Prejean and this year's pageant.

The former contestant wrote on her MySpace blog that Prejean did NOT cost herself the crown with what she said in response to Perez Hilton's gay marriage question; rather, the issue was how she said it.

"She lost the crown because she wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that, as MISS USA, she would be representing," Moakler wrote. "And if YOU like it or not, gays and lesbians make up this country as well. THIS is why we have judges, so they can find the RIGHT woman who obtains these qualities."

Moakler has no problem with Miss California standing by her convictions, however.

"[I don't] have any issue with her stating her opinion... I agree with the majority that this IS what makes our country great... freedom of speech. She was asked a question, and she answered it."

Carrie Prejean was seeking a crown. Instead, she found controversy.