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Lawyer Says Pageant Officials Leaked Settlement Details

LOS ANGELES (CN) - The lawyer who represented former Miss California Carrie Prejean claims pageant officials blew a confidential settlement by telling TMZ they had the upper hand in mediation because they had a sex tape starring the beauty queen.

Prejean stirred up controversy in the 2009 Miss USA pageant, when pageant judge and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton asked her views on same-sex marriage.

Prejean responded, "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And, you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that, I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there."

Prejean, who has since married NFL quarterback Kyle Boller, is not a party to the lawsuit.

Two months after she lost the Miss USA crown, Donald Trump, who owns most of the Miss Universe organization, stripped Prejean of her Miss California title, claiming she refused to make scheduled appearances required by her title and never repaid a loan she used to get breast implants.

Prejean claimed pageant officials wanted her to do a Playboy photo shoot and appear on a reality show.

After filing dueling lawsuits, Prejean, Miss California executive director Keith Lewis and former co-executive director Shanna Moakler ended up in confidential mediation, according to Charles LiMandri's Superior Court lawsuit.

LiMandri claims he reduced his legal fees in order to trim the settlement amount and secure the defendants' secrecy.

But on the day after the mediation was settled, TMZ reported not only on the terms of the confidential settlement, but also on what the parties discussed during the supposedly secret mediation, LiMandri claims.

TMZ cited anonymous "sources" in the following report:

"Carrie Prejean nets a big fat zero in her settlement with the folks at Miss California USA, sources tell TMZ. Carrie and the Pageant officials have settled their lawsuits against each other and the terms were confidential ... until now. We've learned the Pageant will fork over around $100,000 for Carrie's lawyers and publicists connected with the public battle royale. That money goes directly to her flacks and not into her bank account. We're told Carrie personally gets zilch. What Carrie walks away with: Her book comes out on Monday and we're told the Pageant won't fight her for writing it without its permission," TMZ reported.

Later that day, the tabloid reported on details of the confidential proceedings, LiMandri claims.

"Carrie Prejean demanded more than a million dollars during her settlement negotiations with Miss California USA Pageant offices -- that is, until the lawyer for the Pageant showed Carrie an XXX home video of her handiwork," TMZ allegedly reported. "The video the lawyer showed Carrie is extremely graphic and has never been released publicly. We know that, because TMZ obtained the video months ago but decided not to post it because it was too racy. Let's just say, Carrie has a promising solo career. We're told it took about 15 seconds for Carrie to jettison her demand and essentially walk away with nothing. As we first reported, the Pageant is paying around $100,000 to her lawyers and publicist - a fraction of her bills. She pockets nothing in the settlement."

LiMandri says only the pageant officials, their lawyer, Prejean and himself knew about the settlement and the details of the mediation.

And because he reduced his fees in exchange for their confidentiality, he claims they should now pay full price.

He demands $276,000 plus punitive damages, and is representing himself.

LiMandri, who is based in Rancho Santa Fe, also sued Lewis' company, K2 Productions, lawyer James Nguyen and law firm Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, of Beverly Hills.

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