Olivia Vergopia | Head Editor
May 14, 2024
On May 6th, the pageant world was shaken by the news of Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt stepping down from her title. Days later, it was shaken once more by the announcement that Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava also resigned.
There are many assumed reasons as to why they both have chosen to back down from these titles that are insanely hard to obtain. Some think that there are shady things going on behind the scenes: the alleged cheating scandal of 2022, claims of sexual harassment, and the toxic work environment.
Voigt’s public reason was because it is ‘what’s best for … mental health.” She stresses the importance of taking care of your own mental health and doing things to aid in this. Two days later, Srivastava said her reason was that her personal values “no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.” This left the pageant community in shock because of the fact that they have been working towards this title their entire lives and they turned it over.
This puts the runner-ups in an awkward position because of how they “received” the title. Miss Teen New York Stephanie Skinner denied the crown and said that she doesn’t want it either considering the circumstances. On the other hand, there was some controversy on Miss Hawaii accepting the crown as runner-up. But, she has done so for a good cause- to rebuild “Lahaina on my island of Maui,” which was destroyed by wildfires last August.
Junior Liam Carroll said “I don’t know much about Miss USA or pageants, but I think it is interesting that they would all turn down such a rare opportunity. Whatever is going on behind the scenes must be super serious.” In agreement, junior Isaiah Johnson said “Being told about all of the scandals that have happened helped me understand why they would want to deny the titles. Maybe they don’t want to be associated with that.”
The pageant world is currently under fire–and we’ll have to see if they can put it out.
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