Former Miss USA Noelia Vogt’s friend claims driver didn’t support her at pageant after making ‘inappropriate advances’

Fashion & Beauty

by Brooke Kato

Former Miss USA Noelia Vogt, who gave up her title last week to prioritize her mental health, reportedly received an “inappropriate advance” from a driver.

The Independent reported that the beauty pageant winner was riding in the back seat of a car during a Christmas parade in Sarasota, Florida, when the driver, believed to be an older man, asked for a relationship with Vogt, 24. It was reported that he made offensive remarks suggesting that

“He said things like he was older and had more money,” said Vogt, a friend of Vogt’s who recently resigned as social media manager for the Miss USA organization, citing “bullying” and “toxic behavior.” Claudia Michel argued.

“She literally couldn’t escape it,” she claimed. “What was she going to do, get out of her car in the middle of the parade and walk away? She was stuck.”

Michelle, who unlike Vogt is not bound by a non-disclosure agreement, alleges lapses in security and blames Miss USA president Leila Rose’s lack of funds to run the organization. did.

She claimed Mr Vogt was supposed to be “busy with a busy schedule” during his reign, but “should have always traveled with a bodyguard or handler”.

“The handler’s role in the pageant world is like a bodyguard in the sense that they’re Noelia’s eyes, ears and voice, and they kind of say things,” Michelle argued. .

“It would have been in the handler’s best interest to just say straight up there and then, ‘That’s not appropriate, that’s not okay,’ and brush it off.”

Miss USA title holders are usually treated as “celebrities,” but Michelle claimed Vogt was instead staying in her boyfriend’s college dorm in Alabama or with her family in Florida. did.

“I have seen state pageants run better than the way Miss USA was handled and the way they were run under current leadership,” Michelle argued.

Inside sources previously told the Post that both Handler and Rose ignored Mr. Vogt’s harassment allegations after the holiday parade.

“Layla said, ‘You’re going to have to get used to it because you’re in a public role now,'” the source claimed.

The newspaper has reached out to the Miss USA organization for comment.

Vogt’s decision to abdicate the throne to focus on his mental health comes amid a wave of resignations within the organization, sources previously claimed to the Post. This is due to a “toxic” environment.

Miss Teen USA winner Umasofia Srivastava, 17, also resigned, saying her personal values ​​were “no longer fully aligned with the direction of the organization.” The runner-up for the crown, Miss Teen New York Stephanie Skinner, 19, also declined the title.

Insiders previously told the Post that the decision to abdicate the throne was “not easy” for Vogt and Srivastava, but they were said to have “decided to do it together.”

“Because of the organization, they are afraid to speak out any further at this point,” an anonymous insider told the Post. “They don’t want this to have a lasting negative impact on their future.”

Ms Srivastava’s mother, Barbara, told The Independent that she believed her daughter and Ms Vogt had suffered “emotional abuse” at the hands of Mr Rose, who allegedly “tormented” her and “threatened” her. Told.

Rose replaced the organization’s former president Krystle Stewart last year, but has now been urged to resign by Michelle and the former titleholder’s mother.