{"id":7195,"date":"2024-05-08T17:25:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=7195"},"modified":"2024-05-08T17:25:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:25:31","slug":"miss-usa-resigns-over-mental-health-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=7195","title":{"rendered":"Miss USA resigns over mental health challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 4 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

Reigning Miss USA Noelia Voigt has resigned, citing mental health challenges.<\/p>\n

Ms. Voigt, who won the annual competition in September, said she believed in making decisions \u201cthat feels best for you and your mental health\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever compromise your physical and mental wellbeing,\u201d she wrote on Instagram. \u201cOur health is our wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Miss USA organization said it supported her decision and would announce a successor.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old Venezuelan-American, of Utah, said that she hoped to \u201ccontinue to inspire others\u201d as she started \u201ca new chapter\u201d in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrioritise your mental health, advocate for yourself and others by using your voice, and never be afraid of what the future holds, even if it feels uncertain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She expressed her gratitude for her seven months as Miss USA, which she said gave her a \u201cplatform \u2026 to make a difference\u201d as well as realize a \u201clifelong dream\u201d and meet \u201cpeople all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miss USA thanked Ms. Voigt and said on Instagram, \u201cThe well-being of our titleholders is a top priority\u201d.<\/p>\n

The organization said it was reviewing plans for the \u201ctransition of responsibilities to a successor\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii came second to Ms Voigt in last year\u2019s competition. The New York Times reported Ms Gankiewicz has already been offered the title.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

While health professionals praised the decision to step down, fans have speculated about her motivation to renounce her crown a little over seven months into the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the mental illness gets in the way of someone\u2019s ability to go about not just their day-to-day activities, but to do their job, it is as life-threatening and as severe as untreated diabetes [and] uncontrolled high blood pressure,\u201d Dr Jen Ashton, an American health correspondent, told Good Morning America in reaction to the news.<\/p>\n

Ms Voigt\u2019s resignation came three days after Miss USA\u2019s social media director, Claudia Michelle, announced her own resignation from the brand, citing alleged \u201cworkplace toxicity and bullying\u201d and saying that titleholders \u201cshould be heard and not silenced\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have had the privilege of getting to work with Noelia closely and unfortunately seen a decline in her mental health since we first met,\u201d Ms Michelle wrote in a statement.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ms Voigt\u2019s \u201cability to share her story and her platform have been diminished\u201d, she claimed.<\/p>\n

Miss USA told USA Today that Ms Michelle\u2019s statement contained \u201cfalse accusations\u201d, and said the organisation was \u201ccommitted to fostering a safe, inclusive and supportive environment, and we take these allegations seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, we have and will continue to prioritize the well-being of all individuals involved with Miss USA.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But fans on social media noticed that the first letter of each sentence of Ms Voigt\u2019s lengthy resignation statement spelt out \u201cI AM SILENCED\u201d \u2013 though the final three sentences spelt \u201cHIP\u201d. Beneath her resignation statement posted to Instagram, dozens of fans commented on the apparent connection.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The BBC has approached Miss USA for further comment.<\/p>\n

Miss USA has previously courted controversy over the treatment of contestants.<\/p>\n

The year before Ms Voigt was crowned, the pageant faced allegations of rigging the 2022 contest in favour of winner B\u2019Roney Gabriel, who had ties to sponsors \u2013 including one owned by the then-president Crystle Stewart.<\/p>\n

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Ms Stewart was suspended from her role, though she, Miss USA and Ms Gabriel denied the rigging claims. It was later revealed that Ms Stewart\u2019s husband, Max Sebrechts, a Miss USA vice-president, resigned his role after multiple contestants alleged he had sexually harassed them in 2021.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Reigning Miss USA Noelia Voigt has resigned, citing mental health challenges. Ms. Voigt, who won the annual competition in September, said she believed in making decisions \u201cthat feels best for… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}