“We can speak for them,” former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava’s mother Barbara Srivastava tells Inside Edition.
The mothers of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA are speaking out after their daughters announced that they were giving back their crowns.
Former Miss USA Noelia Voigt and former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava are bound by nondisclosure agreements with strict confidentiality clauses.
“They can’t speak,” former Miss USA Noelia Voigt’s mother Jackeline Voigt tells Inside Edition.
But their mothers are not bound by those agreements.
“We can speak for them,” former Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava’s mother Barbara Srivastava tells Inside Edition.
Jackeline and Barbara share a strong bond.
“Our daughters were struggling. They pushed through every month. Meanwhile, they were being bullied,” Jackeline says.
Noelia resigned from her title last week. People who read Noelia's resignation statement on social media noticed that the first letters of each sentence spelled out “I am silenced.”
“If there’s nothing to hide, let them speak,” Jackeline says. “There are little things that I don’t know as a mother because of the NDA.”
In her official resignation letter obtained by Inside Edition, Noelia cites “a toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization” that includes “bullying and harassment.”
Jackeline tells Inside Edition her daughter Noelia lost weight, could not eat and started taking medication for anxiety.
The Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants are both run by President and CEO Laylah Rose, who took over in 2023.
The mothers say Rose was doing most of the bullying
Noelia also wrote in her official resignation letter she was “made to feel unsafe at events without an effective handler, and this culminated in being sexually harassed at the 2023 Sarasota Christmas Parade.”
Her mother tells Inside Edition that a rude remark was made by a man who was working for the pageant.
“This man asked her, ‘Are you into older men with money,’” her daughter says. Laylah Rose told her, "You have to get used to this, these things happen."
Miss Teen USA first runner-up Stephanie Skinner of New York has turned down the title.
The Miss USA organization issued a statement saying they are committed to a healthy environment. The television network that airs the pageants says it is "evaluating" its relationship in light of the allegations.
