In a very emotional interview today on ‘Good Morning America,’ the mother of Miss USA, Noelia Voigt, spoke for the first time about the reassignment of her daughter as Miss USA.
She was joined by the mother of Miss Teen USA, UmaSofia Srivastava, who also resigned from the beauty pageant organization.
Both mothers stated that they were on the TV show in place of their daughters, who they say cannot speak because they are still bound by non-disclosure agreements with the Miss USA organization. ‘They are brutally silenced,’ the mother said with tears in her eyes.
‘The job of their dreams turned out to be a nightmare,’ Barbara Srivastava said on ABC. ‘We could not continue this charade. The girls decided to step down and give up their dream and their crown. Why would two girls decide to give that up?’
The mother of Miss USA said her daughter was ‘sexually harassed.’ The president of the Miss USA contest asked Noelia a few days after her win: ‘Are you into old men with money? He made Noelia very, very uncomfortable.’
Aside from the sexual harassment, her daughter was ‘surveilled in every aspect, from social media to her private life,’ and had to endure ‘unwanted advances, for example at a Christmas parade.’
The mother on ABC said: ‘This was not what she was living for – she was abused and bullied by the organization!’
The mother of Miss USA, speaking about her daughter’s future, said: ‘I’m happy to have my girl back. I need to stand up with Noelia now. We want Mr. Rose, the president of the Miss USA organization, to step down. And we want the silencing of Noelia to end. The non-disclosure agreement has to be terminated – otherwise, she is silenced for the rest of her life!’
The two mothers warned prospective pageant contestants about getting involved with Miss USA: ‘Don’t ruin your lives!’
