After Miss Teen USA, UmaSofia Srivastava, stepped down last week, the runner-up — Miss Teen New York, Stephanie Skinner — told The Post that she doesn’t want the crown either.
“I ultimately came to the decision to decline it,” Skinner, 19 and from New Hartford, New York, said. “I didn’t feel like it was the right decision considering all the circumstances.”
Over the past week both Srivastava, 17, and Miss USA, 24-year-old Noelia Voigt, abdicated their titles, while Miss USA Organization social media manager Claudia Michelle also resigned from her post. Sources told The Post that the women had been “bullied” by the organization’s CEO, Laylah Rose.
Skinner, a rising junior majoring in economics at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said she didn’t feel she could accept the Miss Teen USA title after the scandals came to light — and is instead “standing in solidarity and standing up for female empowerment. My integrity and my character will always come before crowns.”
Having relied on scholarships her whole academic career, Skinner said turning down the role wasn’t easy.
“I’ve been working at this Runner-up doesn’t want the crown after Miss Teen USA resigns since I was 12 years old. I missed birthdays, proms and personal high school events training for this. It’s really like a sport. You dedicate your entire life to this goal,” she told The Post.
“Pageants have their stigma about being just about the glitz and the glam, but for me its about the advocacy. I grew up in a single parent household. I’m a survivor of family domestic violence and that’s why I created my own organization,” she told The Post of Hands of Hope, a national organization empowering 20,000 teens with the message of self-acceptance.
Voigt stepped down on May 6, referencing the importance of “doing what’s best for … mental health,” while Srivastava, who quit two days later, said that her personal values “no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”
The embattled Miss USA organization is in such disarray, it may risk losing a deal with the network that broadcasts its pageants.
“In light of the events of last week, The CW Network is evaluating its relationship with both pageants,” a spokesperson for the network told The Post in an email Monday.
A source close to the situation told The Post that, internally, the organization is “divided” over support of Voigt and Srivastava’s speaking out.
Miss Hawaii, 28-year-old Savannah Gankiewicz, will take Voigt’s crown as Miss USA on Wednesday.
“Please know that my decision to accept the Miss USA crown was not one that was made lightly. I stand with Noelia and admire her strength to step down and prioritize her mental health,” Gankiewicz wrote in a statement on Instagram.
But fans expressed disappointment.
“Good luck doing anything with this organization,” one commenter remarked. “You’ll see exactly why Noelia stepped down in a matter of days.”
“Sisterhood is officially dead, we gotta do better as a collective,” another said.
Gankiewicz faced so much backlash that her mother, Yvienne Peterson, came to her defense on Instagram.
“I have raised a warrior and your hateful comments she can endure,” Peterson commented on her daughter’s Instagram post.
“What they went through was nothing detrimental,” she wrote, referring to Voigt. “Yes, unfortunately, they may have had to ride Spirit airlines, yes, they may have had their boss tell them that some of their posts were not [on] brand … but if that was the worst …. maybe they have forgotten what their primary role was and that was to be a role model for women.”
Last week, a source close to the situation told The Post that pageant CEO Rose had secretly posted under Srivastava and Voigt’s names and that “Noelia and UmaSofia were removed from being able to post on the Miss USA Instagram page.”
The source added: “Noelia wakes up every day on pins and needles because of harassing emails [from pageant organizers]: ‘Don’t do this,’ ‘Don’t do that,’ ‘Take that post down,’ Unlike that post.’ ‘You can’t speak to anybody, remember your NDA you can’t go here unless we confirm,’” a a source close to the situation told The Post. “It’s micromanaged to the 10th degree and harassing.”
