A former Miss USA is advising pageant competitors against taking the crown.
Recently, the Miss USA organization has been dealing with issues after both Miss USA and Teen Miss USA stepped down from their titleholder duties.
As Fox News reported, Miss USA Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava, Miss Teen USA, both walked away from their crowns in May. This led to first-runner up, Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, to take over as Miss USA for the remainder of the pageant year.
Voigt left the pageant for her “mental health,” while Srivastava took to Instagram to share her reasoning for exiting the Miss Teen USA world.
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“After months of grappling with this decision, I have made the choice to resign from the title of Miss Teen USA 2023,” Srivastava wrote. “After careful consideration, I’ve decided to resign as I find that my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
When Voigt first won the title of Miss USA, she gave praise to God on Instagram.
“First and foremost, I thank God for all of the trials and tribulations that led me to this enormous blessing. I prayed so hard that His will be done and that I feel peace, confidence, and faith,” Voigt wrote.
However, since then, Voigt released a statement discussing how this dream-come-true wasn’t everything she hoped it would be. Voigt’s statement claimed that there was a “toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization that, at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment.” She also made allegations of sexual harassment at a Christmas parade as well.
When Voigt resigned from the title of Miss USA, first-runner up, Savannah Gankiewicz, says that she spoke to her, which led Voigt to try to stop her from assuming the duties of becoming Miss USA.
“She was basically saying, ‘Don’t. I can’t tell you what to do, but don’t do it because you’ll sign your soul to the devil,” Gankiewicz said to Fox News digital.
Gankiewicz was surprised to hear of such a serious allegation against the pageant system and asked for more details. However, Voigt said because she signed an NDA, she couldn’t discuss them.
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Gankiewicz ended up proceeding with taking the title, which led Voigt to unfollow and block her from her social media pages. Gankiewicz said that Srivastava also encouraged her not to take the crown. However, Gankiewicz says that her experience as Miss USA was a positive one.
“Miss USA, it’s an organization that uplifts and empowers women and gives you the necessary tools to achieve greatness in this life,” Gankiewicz said. “…it is sad when I see other people bash an organization where all it is trying to do is empower people and make women feel beautiful from within.”
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Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
