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2023 Miss USA Resignations: Tip of the Iceberg, Insiders Say

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Noelia Voigt was crowned Miss USA in September 2023, but resigned earlier this week. Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava joined her in stepping down, roiling the pageant world and beyond.
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During their year of service, pageant queens are highly visible, making appearances at major events, advocating for important causes and speaking at public engagements, all in an official capacity. Insiders report that the recent resignations of Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava have disrupted the organization and prevented key players from sharing their experiences and concerns.

The Miss USA organization, which runs the two pageants, has been criticized for mismanagement and a hostile work environment, particularly the circumstances In which Voigt resigned, citing the impact of her career on her mental health.

While Srivastava, 16, who represented New Jersey at Miss Teen USA, released a statement on Instagram saying that her personal values “no longer fully align” with those of the organization, Voigt, 24, who represented Utah at Miss USA, wrote a long but cryptic post, citing her mental health. Soon, however, it went viral for an apparent hidden message — the first letter of the first 11 sentences spelled out “I am silenced.” (Voigt has not subsequently addressed this speculation.)

Srivastava and Voigt at an event in New York in February. Their rep, Denise White, alleges that they are unable to speak out about their experiences.

“We respect and support Noelia’s decision to step down from her duties,” the Miss USA pageant said in a statement following Voigt’s announcement. “The well-being of our titleholders is a top priority, and we understand her need to prioritize herself at this time.” 

In response, a number of current state titleholders who competed alongside Voigt for Miss USA — including Miss North Carolina USA 2023 Jordyn Ashlee McKey, Miss Wisconsin USA 2023 Alexis Loomans and Miss New York USA, Rachelle di Stasio — shared social media messages in support of Voigt, asking the organization to “release Noelia from the confidentiality NDA clause of her contract, in perpetuity, so that she is free to speak on her experiences and time as Miss USA.”

Srivastava and Voigt, along with Denise White, a publicist for Miss Oregon USA 1994, said the two winners were barred by “strong” n-disclosure agreements in their contracts.

At this time, Voigt and Srivastava have not revealed any further details about the reason for their separation. But in a resignation letter sent to the Miss USA organization that was obtained by Eonline360, Voigt raised a number of concerns ranging from unfortunate management issues to more serious allegations.

In the book, he described a “toxic work environment” that was “poorly managed with bullying and harassment”. He accused tournament CEO Laylah Rose of “degrading” Voight’s character in conversations with people inside and outside the organization, including calling him a “psycho.” Rose is an entrepreneur and CEO of VIP Pageantry Network, which acquired the brand in 2023.

Voigt says what Rose sent her was “cold and very aggressive” and that she did not attend any formal meetings about her responsibilities. Despite failing to report his work, he “continued to receive threats of punishment, including loss of pay,” according to the documents.

The administration failed to arrange travel accommodations for Voigt on multiple occasions, he wrote, and did not provide him with a home or car for months, as described in the gift package. He also said there was no “effective operator,” and in the latest case, Voigt said he was sexually assaulted while sitting in a car with an unnamed man at a Christmas parade in Sarasota, Florida.

According to Voigt’s letter, “Rose is trying to create a culture of fear and control that opposes the empowerment of women. This is bad for policyholders and future workers.”

He also wrote that he couldn’t voice his concerns publicly, saying he was “contractually silenced from putting himself out there.”.

Voigt and Srivastava posed with Miss USA pageant owner Laylah Rose (second from right) during a New York Fashion Week event in February.

‘Things are falling apart’

Voigt and Srivastava’s respective resignations were not coordinated, according to White. What I’ve witnessed and seen is harassment, a toxic work environment and bullying,” White said in a telephone interview with CNN. “It’s just not conducive to a women’s organization that uplifts women and is supposed to promote using your voice. It’s quite the opposite.”

Both pageant winners sought out support from management at Miss Universe, which owns the Miss USA organization, without success, she added.

Both young ladies were always trying to resolve any issues quietly behind the scenes,” she explained. “The fact that Miss Universe Organization has not even responded to Noelia’s resignation at this point is just stonewalling… No wonder things are falling apart. Because nobody knows what to do.”

The Miss Universe organization and Rose, through Miss USA, did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

Voigt claims in a resignation later to Miss USA obtained by Eonline360 that the Miss USA organization's CEO, Laylah Rose, is "actively building a culture of fear and control.

Voigt’s pageant coach, Thom Brodeur, who has worked with Miss USA contestants since 1991 and began working with Voigt while she was preparing for Miss Utah, emphasized new and ominous territory for the organization under Rose. “No woman has ever resigned as Miss USA or as Miss Teen USA, and she’s lost both of them in 48 hours,” he said.

Even before Voigt and Srivastava stepped down, there was turmoil in the organization, according to White, Brodeur and Miss USA’s former social media director, Claudia Engelhardt, who also resigned in recent days. Engelhardt claimed on Instagram that she had worked without pay for two months after being hired, and that she had seen a “decline” in Voigt’s mental health, and witnessed “disrespect” toward Srivastava and members of her family.

And according to Engelhardt, they were far from the only members of the Miss USA organization to depart. When she began her role in January, she was part of an already small team of five employees. Now, she says, after multiple firings and resignations, the team is down to Rose and one other employee. Multiple sources said the turnover has been constant.

“This is not a state pageant. This is not a local pageant. You need… a whole team,” Engelhardt said in a phone call with CNN.

Engelhardt said she believed she was applying for a freelance role, and was surprised to find she was being hired as staff. Still, she claimed, she received no employee contract, no onboarding and no guidance. There was no one else to help her manage the day-to-day social media needs of the national brand, she said, and often came up against what she framed as Rose’s overbearing approach to their social accounts.

“She would block Instagram accounts with people that she had personal discrepancies with. She would censor comments, and she would leave comments for the Miss USA page as if she was Noelia,” Engelhardt claimed.

White also alleged that Rose impersonated the two pageant winners on their official accounts. Weeks before Voigt resigned, she announced in a now-deleted Instagram post on her personal account that she “no longer had access” to her Miss USA pages.

Savannah Gankiewicz, who as Miss Hawaii placed as first runner-up during the 2023 Miss USA pageant, will take over as Miss USA following Voigt's resignation.

An uneasy path forward

Engelhardt said she witnessed firsthand the impact of the role on Voigt, who she considers a friend as well as a former colleague. “(I saw) how stressed out she would get when the owner would constantly bombard her with emails,” she recalled. “She was constantly living in an anxious state.”

But despite the day-to-day stressors, Voigt alleged that she only made a few public appearances. She said in her letter that, aside from a handful of press interviews in Los Angeles following her win and subsequent ones in Utah, the state she had represented at the Miss USA pageant, she had “yet to make an appearance outside of Sarasota, Florida,” where she was living. This was due to a “lack of communication” that she found “baffling,” she wrote.

“Our Miss USA, who should have been booked and busy (with) endless opportunities, was sitting around doing nothing, and it’s not because she didn’t want to, but because of mismanagement,” Engelhardt said.

On May 9, the Miss USA pageant announced that Savannah Gankiewicz, Miss Hawaii USA 2023 and first-runner up to Voigt at the 2023 Miss USA pageant, would be taking over the national title and its responsibilities. She will be officially crowned on May 15.

“We are proud to crown Savannah Miss USA 2023, A true representation of vision, intelligence, and compassion,” Rose said in a statement. “Her dedication to empowering women through self-love and confidence is inspiring, and we look forward to her impactful reign as Miss USA.”

“I fully support and respect Noelia’s decision to step down, and I stand in solidarity with mental health awareness,” Gankiewicz added. “To my fellow Miss USA sisters, I believe it’s crucial for us to stand united for the future of the organization and the incoming class of 2024 and beyond.”

Voigt and Srivastava posed with Crystle Stewart, who previously led Miss USA, at a gala in New York on the heels of their double resignation.

Though many have offered their public support for the two resigned pageant winners — including Shanna Moakler, who oversaw Voigt’s win in her role as the state director for the Miss Utah USA pageant, and Cindy Provost and Debbie Miller, who oversaw Srivastava’s win in their role as state directors for the Miss New Jersey Teen USA pageant — Engelhardt and White both hope that others will step up to reveal more about what they see as a stifling culture, as well as potential legal ramifications, that are keeping the titleholders quiet.

They need somebody to speak for them” Eonline said.

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Laura Sánchez The Core of Flamenco Design at We Love Flamenco

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Flamenco Fashion A Journey of Tradition & Style

Reading Time: 3 minutesLaura Sánchez, a famous model, financial specialist, and fellow benefactor of the notorious We Love Flamenco runway, as of late considered her excursion with flamenco design as the thirteenth release of the occasion enveloped with Andalucía. The occasion, a critical apparatus in Spain’s style schedule, introduced a stunning cluster of more than 70 planners displaying the most recent in flamenco design for 2025. With eight days of runway shows, the occasion ended up being a fundamental stage for mixing custom with current patterns.

Flamenco Design: High fashion with a Social Turn

In a meeting, Laura, notwithstanding losing her voice following quite a while of regulating the occasion, talked eagerly about the development of flamenco style and its developing effect. “Flamenco style is as of now not just about conventional dresses. It has turned into a genuine type of high fashion,” she said. “It includes complex craftsmanship, innumerable long stretches of work, and extravagant textures,” she added, featuring the profound creativity behind each piece. Large numbers of the originators at We Love Flamenco deal with their manifestations like high fashion, making every flamenco dress a unique masterpiece.

The Profound Association with Flamenco Dresses

Laura’s association with flamenco style runs profound. “Wearing a flamenco dress is like venturing into a memory. It brings out minutes with family, companions, and the soul of Andalusia. An inclination interfaces you to your underlying foundations,” she made sense of. As far as she might be concerned, the method involved with wearing a flamenco dress rises above appearance; it’s a festival of legacy and feeling. This profound close to home association with the dress is a focal motivation behind why it reverberates so emphatically in Andalusia and then some.

The Development of We Love Flamenco: A Stage for In vogue Plans

The We Love Flamenco runway has developed massively under Laura’s initiative, with the show now a signal for the most recent flamenco patterns. This year, the runway highlighted pastel tones, fine tints, and astonishing shades like dark, flagging a shift towards integrating contemporary tones into flamenco design. Long sleeves stay famous, and red keeps on prevailing as an intense, predominant variety. These advanced reports on conventional plans address the powerful idea of flamenco design, which adjusts to developing preferences while keeping up with its social importance.

Laura Sánchez: The Visionary Behind the Runway

Regardless of the extraordinary work engaged with arranging the occasion, Laura’s enthusiasm for flamenco style radiates through. She communicated delight in being important for the whole cycle, from planning the coordinated operations to organizing the architect assortments. “I appreciate being the lady and guaranteeing that everything moves along as expected. It’s a piece like being a nurturing figure to all interested parties,” she expressed, alluding to her job in ensuring fashioners, press, and crowds are blissful.

Flamenco Design’s Persevering through Allure

Flamenco design, as indicated by Laura, stands apart from other provincial outfits because of its continuous advancement. While other conventional outfits, for example, the chulapa dress, have attempted to stay applicable to more youthful ages, flamenco design has consistently adjusted. “Flamenco has consistently figured out how to develop without losing its substance, and that is the reason it resounds so emphatically today,” Laura made sense of. The flamenco dress, with its voluminous skirts, energetic varieties, and complicated subtleties, enables ladies to feel certain and wonderful.

Functional Ways to wear Flamenco Style

As the 2025 flamenco season draws near, Laura offers a useful guidance for those hoping to wear the dress with style and certainty. “Pick a dress that causes you to feel great and lovely. Try not to stress a lot over sticking stringently to convention. In the event that the bloom is more appealing at the base for you, let it all out. Simply abstain from wearing shades or leaving your hair free — that is never the right search for flamenco,” she exhorted.

We Love Flamenco: A Stage for Both Laid out and Arising Fashioners

We Love Flamenco’s entryway strategy, permitting the general population to buy tickets for the shows, has likewise been a hit. This year, the crowd was blessed to receive shocking assortments from both laid out names like Alicia Suárez and Ismael Domínguez, as well as arising fashioners like Pol Núñez and EMEDOS by Twins. The occasion, presently in its thirteenth year, keeps on featuring flamenco design as a significant social and imaginative articulation, joining custom with current development.

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Martha Stewart Paired This Trusty Winter Staple With the Boldest Pants

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Martha Stewart Winter Fashion Bold Pants with Classic Coat.

Reading Time: 3 minutes With regards to winter style, few have become amazing at blending exemplary staples in with striking patterns very like Martha Stewart. Known for her faultless fashion instinct and capacity to make any troupe look easily stylish, Stewart has by and by blew some people’s minds with her most recent winter outfit blend. The carefully prepared way of life investor matched a handy dandy winter staple — her go-to cover — with a couple of intense, eye-getting pants that investigated an unheard of level.

The Handy dandy Winter Staple The Exemplary Coat
Martha Stewart’s style decisions have consistently inclined toward immortal tastefulness, and her colder time of year closet is no special case. The colder time of year coat, a fundamental piece for the colder months, has for some time been her particular thing. Yet, this season, she’s taken the exemplary coat and raised it with new energy. While many could pick a straightforward unbiased coat, Stewart picked a more customized choice that joins both usefulness and style. Whether it’s a rich camel tone, a smooth dark fleece coat, or a la mode plaid design, Stewart’s colder time of year coat is a flexible decision that supplements any outfit.

In the style world, the right coat is something other than a colder time of year need; it’s an assertion piece that can integrate a look. Martha Stewart grasps this well, deciding on a coat that oozes complexity while as yet offering the glow and inclusion required for crisp days. The magnificence of this exemplary winter staple lies in its flexibility — it can without much of a stretch be spruced up or down, making it ideal for a scope of events, from relaxed excursions to formal occasions.
Martha Stewart Winter Fashion Bold Pants with Classic Coat.

The Striking Jeans: Adding Show to the Outfit
While the coat gives design and warmth, the striking jeans genuinely make Martha Stewart’s outfit stick out. This season, Stewart embraced the pattern of striking, articulation making pants that request consideration. From larger than usual pants to lively prints and remarkable surfaces, striking jeans are all over the place, and Stewart is driving the charge in integrating them into her colder time of year closet.

The way to matching intense jeans with an exemplary winter coat is balance. Stewart picked some jeans with a striking print or strong variety, which stood out delightfully from the downplayed polish of her jacket. The jeans might have highlighted enormous, mathematical examples, brilliant varieties, or even metallic wraps up, adding a perky touch to a generally exemplary look. These jeans are ideal for those hoping to explore different avenues regarding style, pushing the limits of customary winter clothing.

By matching the believed winter cover with the strong jeans, Stewart easily mixed solace and style, making a gathering that was both useful for the colder time of year season and outwardly striking. The juxtaposition of the smooth coat and the sensational jeans grandstands Stewart’s capacity to blend immortal pieces in with present day patterns such that feels new yet complex.

Styling Tips for Your Own Strong Winter Look
In the event that you’re propelled by Martha Stewart’s colder time of year look and need to integrate a comparable energy into your own closet, the following are a couple styling tips:

Pick the Right Coat: Decide on a custom fitted coat that accommodates your body shape. Nonpartisan varieties like beige, dim, or dark are exemplary, however go ahead and try different things with prints or surfaces like plaid or fleece.

Say something with Jeans: Don’t avoid striking examples or varieties. Consider wide-leg pants, plaid jeans, or even metallic textures that add aspect to your outfit. Match them with a straightforward top to allow the jeans to sparkle.

Embellish Intelligently: Keep frill negligible to try not to overpower the outfit. An organized satchel, basic gems, and a warm scarf are all you want to finish the look.

Layer Innovatively: Layering is vital to winter design. Match your jacket and jeans with a comfortable sweater or turtleneck to keep warm without forfeiting style.

End
Martha Stewart’s new design decision of matching an exemplary winter cover with intense jeans is an ideal illustration of how to make winter style tomfoolery, stylish, and dynamic. By mixing ageless staples with present day patterns, Stewart demonstrates that colder time of year outfits don’t need to exhaust. Whether you’re going to a vacation gathering or essentially partaking in a colder time of year day out, this mix offers unending style motivation. In this way, follow Stewart and make it a point to blend exemplary pieces in with strong, eye-getting components for a colder time of year look that really sticks out.

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Netflix Outage Leaves Thousands Frustrated During Big Boxing Match

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Netflix Outage Hits During Tyson vs. Paul Boxing Match

Reading Time: 2 minutesNetflix confronted a gigantic blackout late Friday night, leaving a huge number of clients across the US unfit to get to the streaming stage. The disturbance occurred at a crucial time — similarly as watchers were equipping to watch the profoundly expected to box match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. As indicated by the blackout following site Downdetector, in excess of 85,000 clients revealed issues with the help by 10:35 p.m. ET (0335 GMT Saturday).

The blackout wasn’t restricted to one region; it hit significant urban areas like New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles the hardest, however reports additionally rolled in from more modest locales the nation over. The timing could never have been more terrible, with innumerable fans enthusiastically holding on to stream the live occasion. All things considered, they were met with mistake messages and stacking screens, prompting broad dissatisfaction.

When requested a remark, Netflix stayed quiet, offering not a great reason for the issue. This isn’t whenever the stage first has confronted specialized hardships during a significant occasion. Comparative interruptions happened last year during the live gushing of the unscripted TV drama People in love assume nothing but the best, which additionally left a great many clients unfit to watch. These rehashed blackouts during well known occasions have started worries about Netflix’s capacity to deal with spikes in client traffic.

The Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul battle was one of the most expected occasions of the night, drawing consideration from avid supporters and relaxed watchers the same. The energy around the match was substantial, with web-based entertainment humming in the hours paving the way to the occasion. Tragically, many fans couldn’t watch it as expected. Very quickly, web-based entertainment stages like Twitter and Facebook were overflowed with protests, and the hashtag #NetflixDown began moving. Numerous clients communicated their failure, while others adopted a more hilarious strategy, kidding about Netflix “calling it quits” before the battle even started.

Specialists accept the issue probably originated from a flood in rush hour gridlock that overpowered Netflix’s servers. While the stage is worked to oblige a great many watchers, live occasions or debuts with huge viewership frequently stretch its foundation to the edge. This isn’t extraordinary to Netflix — other web-based features have confronted comparative difficulties. In any case, given Netflix’s standing as a forerunner in the streaming business, these rehashed disappointments during popularity minutes have left many addressing whether the organization is doing what’s necessary to resolve the issue.

For clients, the blackout was something other than a bother — it upset their night plans and left many fans incapable to partake in the occasion they had been enthusiastically anticipating. With web-based features turning into a fundamental piece of amusement, watchers anticipate that stages should convey predictable and solid help, particularly during huge occasions.

At this point, Netflix hasn’t given a clarification to the blackout or declared any designs to repay impacted clients. The episode fills in as a sign of the developing torments looked by even the greatest players in the streaming business. Whether Netflix will do whatever it may take to work on its foundation for future occasions is not yet clear, yet one thing is clear: clients will not endure these interruptions for a really long time.

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