Ex-Miss USA, Miss Teen accuse successor of 'invalidating' their resignations
Noelia Voigt, the former Miss USA 2023, and UmaSofia Srivastava, the ex-Miss Teen USA 2023, have publicly accused their successor Savannah Gankiewicz of undermining their experiences. Voigt and Srivastava stepped down from their titles in May, with Voigt citing mental health issues and Srivastava stating "personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization." Gankiewicz, who assumed the Miss USA 2023 title following Voigt's resignation, has refuted these allegations in recent media interviews.
Gankiewicz denied allegations, vows to investigate the organization
In her media appearance on Fox News, Gankiewicz denied the allegations made by Voigt and Srivastava. She said she wanted to "see for myself what's going on with the Miss USA organization and just see for myself if there were any of those allegations that were true." "It's just so crazy to me that one person could have this experience and make all these crazy lies." She also insisted the "bullying" allegations were "actually the other way around."
Voigt and Srivastava responded to Gankiewicz's comments
Voigt and Srivastava took to Instagram to respond to Gankiewicz's comments. Voigt expressed disappointment at someone "completely invalidating my and UmaSofia's experiences as former national titleholders." She questioned the need for invalidation if the goal was women's empowerment. Similarly, Srivastava stated that she would not tolerate anyone impugning her or Voigt's character, reaffirming her decision to distance herself from the organization.
'People's true colors always reveal themselves...'
Srivastava further criticized the current representative's claim that Noelia and she were not victims of "bullying," calling it unfortunate. She wrote, "People's true colors always reveal themselves," expressing relief that after months of private harassment by the representative, they finally felt comfortable to publicly dismiss their experiences. Earlier, Srivastava and Voigt's mothers had spoken with Good Morning America, asserting that their daughters "were ill-treated, abused, bullied and cornered." Voigt has previously stated that she was "constrained by a non-disclosure agreement."
Miss USA Organization and Gankiewicz responded to accusations
Gankiewicz further mentioned, "Now that I've been Miss USA for almost three months, I can now say that that was all false." In response to the public comments, Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose stated that they are not discrediting anyone's experiences. She affirmed that Gankiewicz has every right to speak on her behalf. Gankiewicz also issued a statement saying she is not stating that anyone's experience is invalid, but rather her personal experience wasn't one of a toxic working environment.
