What happened between Noelia Voigt, UmaSofia Srivastava, and Savannah Gankiewicz? Miss USA drama explained

The Miss USA drama has garnered massive attention after Savannah Gankiewicz shared details about the scandal. It began in May 2024, when Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava resigned from their roles just two days apart. Both of them received their crowns a year ago in August.

Within two weeks, Savannah, the first runner-up in the beauty pageant and Miss Hawaii 2023, accepted the title. On August 4, the title was further passed on to Alma Cooper. UmaSofia and Noelia accused Savannah of "invalidating" their experiences in recent media interactions.

While opening up about the issue, Savannah Gankeiwicz denied the accusations made against her. After the resignations, both Noelia and UmaSofia's mothers claimed they were abused and ill-treated. In an interview with FOX News, Savannah claimed that she was asked by the former titleholders to be careful before accepting the offer.

After being a part of the organization for a few months, Savannah claimed that she loved it there, which seemed unlike what UmaSofia and Noelia Voigt initially claimed.

"And now that I've been Miss USA for almost three months, I can now say that that was all false. The organization is amazing. Laylah Rose, the president, has been nothing but kind to me, and I've just enjoyed every single second."

Savannah revealed that she didn't know how to react when she first got the offer to accept the title after the two consecutive resignations in May.

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Exploring the drama that unfolded in the Miss USA beauty pageant

The resignations of UmaSofia and Noelia came as a shock to many. While Noelia cited mental health reasons behind her resignation, UmaSofia initially had much more to add to it. In a statement that she shared on Instagram, she 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."

ABC News later obtained a letter containing the reasons behind Noelia's resignation. In the letter, she explained that the organization reportedly had a "toxic work culture." She further criticized Laylah Rose, the President and CEO of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA organizations. According to Noelia, she had been subjected to harrassment and bullying shortly after she was crowned Miss USA 2023.

Noelia also accused Rose of being mostly unavailable whenever they needed to have a conversation. Sexual harrassment allegations also came up after she claimed that she didn't feel safe while representing the organization at multiple events. Noelia added that she was allegedly harassed at the 2023 Sarasota Christmas Parade.

According to her, despite such incidents, the organization denied providing for chaperones and that she had to travel alone. Later, a statement was issued by Rose in which she denied all the allegations made by the beauty queen. The statement by Rose further added:

"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 ever occurred, we would take immediate steps..."

In May, the mothers of the resigned beauty queens gave an interview to Good Morning America, in which they claimed their daughters were treated unfairly. Recently, Savannah appeared for many interviews, where she claimed to have had a great experience with the organization. She even spoke highly of Rose and mentioned that she was always treated well there.

Both Noelia and UmaSofia then took to Instagram to respond to statements made by Savannah in the latest interview. In a story, Noelia wrote a lengthy note that read:

"Very disheartened to see a video of someone completely invalidating my and UmaSofia's experiences as former national titleholders..."

Statement by Noelia (Image via Instagram/@noeliavoigt)

In the note, she also mentioned that it was difficult for them to speak about their experiences with the Miss USA organization if people "gave false narratives." The note continued:

"If the intention is to empower women, why the need to invalidate their feelings or experiences... of those who are now formerly part of the organization who have lost their dream, or their career?"

In a story posted by UmaSofia, she wrote that while she had "distanced herself from the organization," she wouldn't put up with "someone impugning her or Noelia's character."

UmaSofia's statement on Instagram (Image via Instagram/@umasofias)

These statements from the beauty queens after Savannah's claims prompted Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose to release another statement. She claimed that Savannah had all the rights to express her views the way she did and that nobody's experience "was getting discredited."

Savannah further clarified that while she was not discrediting anybody's experience, she was talking about her experience with the Miss USA organization.