Miss USA boss denies former Miss USA's harassment allegations

The CEO of the Miss USA Organization has responded to allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and toxic working conditions within the organization that were made weeks ago when the Miss USA and Miss USA titleholders Teen USA both resigned.

“We are very disappointed to hear the recent false allegations made by individuals speaking on behalf of our former titleholder,” CEO Laylah Rose wrote in a statement obtained Friday by The Times.

“The allegations of sexual harassment, toxic environment and bullying are not true. To be clear, such behavior is not accepted, and we can assure you that if such behavior occurred, we would take immediate action to protect our title holder and provide them with access to appropriate resources,” the statement said. Pink.

His open letter is a radical response to claims made earlier this month by former titleholders and their mothers.

Noelia Voigt, former Miss USA, 24 years old, announced his resignation via Instagram on May 6. In a leaked resignation letter, the 2024 titleholder accused the Miss USA organization of having a “toxic work environment” where she experienced “at best… mismanagement and, at worst… harassment. and harassment. According to CNN, which obtained the letter, the pageant queen accused Rose of “slandering” her and calling her “mentally ill” in conversations with people outside the organization. She also said Rose was “aggressive” and threatened to withhold her pay.

Separately, former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, 17, who announced her resignation days after Voigt, also said her personal values ​​”no longer fully align with the direction” of the organization.

Both women alleged that they signed nondisclosure agreements with the Miss USA Organization and were limited in what they could include in their public statements. So their mothers spoke to “Good Morning America” on May 14 on their behalf.

“Their dream job turned out to be a nightmare,” Barbara Srivastava said. “We could not continue this charade. The girls decided to step down and abandon their life's dream: a crown, a national title. Why would two girls decide to give up?

Jackeline Voigt also described a situation in which she said her daughter was sexually harassed during an official Miss USA appearance and was not given adequate security to protect her. Rose allegedly told him that harassment was “part of the role.”

Rose appeared to blame Voigt for these issues, writing in her statement that “suggestions of a lack of communication and support for the former title holder are also false.”

“(We) provided constant communication about events and procedures and provided access to all necessary services, much of which was ignored or unused by our title holder,” she said.

Rose also alleged that the pageant queen was ignoring her official duties.

“We have also organized numerous events (always with a chaperone) to which she was invited to present her achievements and highlight her 'passionate' projects, many of which our title holder canceled at the last minute and without good reason “, we can read in Rose's press release.

Voigt fired back Thursday against Rose's “unequivocally inaccurate” claims, writing on Instagram that she was “constrained” by a nondisclosure agreement and strongly encouraged Rose to renounce it.

“I would like to emphatically state that, following the unauthorized release of my resignation letter, Laylah Roses' (sic) assertions in her recent statement that contradict my experience after three weeks of unanswered resignation notices are unequivocally inaccurate. “

Srivastava did not respond to Rose's statement.

After Voigt resigned, her Miss USA 2024 title passed to the runner-up, Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii. The role of Miss Teen USA remains vacant.