Miss USA and Miss Teen USA have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep them silent, but their mothers are speaking out on their behalf, accusing the pageant organization of abuse and harassment.
Last week, the American pageant world was rocked by the sudden dual resignations of former Miss USA Noelia Voigt and former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava.
It’s already unheard of for a titleholder to return the crown, but it was only after eagle-eyed fans spotted Noelia’s May 6 social media post that she posted a cryptic message about her decision to retire that the resignation was announced. Speculation has grown. The first letter of the 11 sentences in her statement is ‘I am Siled.’
UmaSofia resigned just days after Noelia, claiming “my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
Appearing on Tuesday Good Morning AmericaNoelia’s mother, Jackeline Voigt, said her daughter has indeed remained silent and will continue to do so unless the NDA is lifted.
Jackeline refused to answer whether Noelia’s stunt was intentional.
“Their dream job turned into a nightmare,” said Barbara Srivastava, UmaSofia’s mother. “We couldn’t continue this charade.”
Jackeline and Barbara said their daughters had never struggled with mental health before winning their respective competition titles. These mothers claim their daughters were harassed while working for the Miss Universe organization, which owns Miss USA.
Jackeline said of Noelia, 24: “She was so angry. This wasn’t why she worked so hard.
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“The Miss Universe organization needs to come out and tell us or apologize.”
Barbara said Umasophia, 17, suffered abuse from the Miss Universe organization and had her personal social media accounts monitored before she resigned. After she saw Noelia’s resignation, she knew that Uma Sofia should also return her own crown, she said.
“It’s not about what they don’t get,” Barbara said. “It’s about how they were mistreated, abused, bullied and cornered.”
Both parents said Good Morning America Noelia and UmaSofia are kept silent by a confidentiality clause in their contract with the Miss Universe Organization.
Jackeline and Barbara want Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose to step down from her position.
The mothers said they hoped other women and girls would not experience the same abuse their daughters allegedly suffered. They called for an end to participation in all Miss USA-related pageants.
“We don’t want these families and these girls to go through what we’re going through,” Jackeline said.
“We are committed to creating a healthy, communicative and supportive environment for all contestants, state title holders, national title holders and staff,” the Miss USA organization told ABC News.
Miss USA’s resignation letter
Noelia’s resignation letter to the Miss Universe organization was published by several media outlets following her announcement. The former titleholder accused CEO Rose of creating and allowing a “toxic work environment”.
“There is a toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization that is at best mismanaged and at worst characterized by bullying and harassment,” Noelia wrote in the letter. “This started right after I won the Miss USA 2023 title.”
Noelia said she was diagnosed with anxiety after becoming Miss USA and later received medication. She also reportedly experienced an outbreak of a pre-existing condition that was exacerbated by her stress, resulting in “heart palpitations, full body tremors, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, lack of sleep, hair loss, etc.” ”
She called Rose “often cold and unnecessarily aggressive.”
“It is incredibly shocking to try to do my job and be constantly threatened with disciplinary action, including having my salary taken away, for something that was never discussed with me and that never caused me any trouble if it involved posts that were public. “There are other problems besides not meeting personal tastes,” he said.
She did not provide specific instances where she was threatened with disciplinary action.
In her letter, Noelia detailed an incident in which she claimed she was sexually harassed at a Christmas parade in Florida. While she was alone in a car with a man, he said several inappropriate things to me about his desire to have a relationship with me.
Jackeline said the man asked Noelia if she “liked old men with money.”
“I felt unsafe at events without effective handlers, which ultimately led to sexual harassment,” Noelia wrote.
When Noelia confronted Rose about the incident, she was allegedly told the organization “can’t stop people talking to you at public events” and was offered no support. Noelle Lea claimed Rose told her that her sexual harassment was “unfortunately part of my role as a public figure.”
Noelia’s resignation letter included several other allegations against Rose. That said, Rose “weaponized” Noelia’s mental health issues and called the beauty queen “‘psycho'” in a derogatory way.
“The well-being of every individual associated with Miss USA is my top priority,” Rose told NBC News.
“My personal goal as the head of this organization has been to inspire women to always create new dreams, have the courage to explore anything, and continue to maintain integrity along the way,” she said. . “I have the same high standards and take these claims seriously.”
Rose did not specify which claims he was referring to.
