She initially grabbed headlines in 2010 when she became one of the only, if not the first, Arab American and Muslim to win the Miss USA crown. Hailing from Michigan since 2003, Fakih is a Lebanese immigrant who moved here when she was a baby and celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths.
But despite the feel-good nature of her 2010 win, Fakih got caught up in scandal after scandal -- including a new one just last night.
TMZ reports that the beauty queen was arrested in Highland Park, Michigan on Saturday for suspicion of drunk driving. Fakih tried to deny the incident initially, tweeting on Saturday, "Let's clear things up now.... I'm NOT in Michigan and I'm NOT in jail! Wrong Fakih."
But Doraid Elder, her attorney, told the Detroit Free Press, "Unfortunately she was." The tweet has since disappeared and Elder commented that Fakih is "very saddened and very apologetic for the situation that she is in right now."
We should say so, given the trouble she's gotten in before. Just the day after winning the Miss USA title, Rima was exposed as a former pole dancer by radio show MojoInTheMorning.com, which posted photos of the pageant winner participating in the "Stripper 101" contest at a Detroit gentlemen's club three years earlier. She later came under fire for some late-night partying, which doesn't seem like a big deal to us but had some critics wagging their fingers. rima fakih stripper 101, rima fakih first muslim, blood alcohol law limit .08,
Now she's actually gotten into trouble with the law. But her lawyer tells the Detroit Free Press that the arrest was based merely on "allegations." Further investigation by the Highland Park police will happen tomorrow.
In the meantime, take a look at the pure, unblemished moment in time when Rima Fakih won her Miss USA crown.
