(NewsNation) — Former Miss America Carla Mundo and former Miss USA contestant Heather Lee O’Keefe say the back-to-back resignations of this year’s Miss USA and Miss Teen USA are a sign of the poisonous tone of silence and abuse within the pageant organization. He claimed that he was exposing a culture that
Mundt, who won the Miss America crown in 2018, said on “NewsNation Live” on Saturday that the exits of Noelia Vogt and Umasophia Srivastava were similar to those she experienced four years ago when she held the title. He said he is focusing on bullying tactics.
“When you basically have your job taken away from you and you have it taken away from you, you become silent,” said Mundo, who is currently running for Congress as a Republican in North Dakota. “I have nothing but praise for her and her courage to step forward because she had no other way to turn her around.”
In his resignation statement, Vogt announced that he was stepping down due to mental health reasons. Fans noticed that the first letter of each sentence in her statement spelled out “I am silent.”
O’Keefe, a former Miss Montana who competed in Miss USA in 2022, claimed the organization enforced restrictive contracts to prevent contestants from publicly criticizing them.
O’Keefe said of the “permanent non-disclosure and non-dishonor clause” reportedly in the Miss USA contract, “I would argue that from a legal standpoint, these clauses are… unconscionable.” said. “When one party is forced to give up their rights without making any meaningful choice, this is an example of clear unconscionability.”
The controversy further intensified with the leak of Vogt’s resignation letter from the New York Times, which alleges that he was sexually harassed during his tenure.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear that something like this happened to her and that she didn’t receive the support she deserved,” O’Keefe said of Vogt’s harassment claims.
Mr O’Keefe claimed that under the new ownership, the competition had previously been allowed to “handpick winners in defiance of the judges’ decisions”.
Mundo argued that this situation shows that Miss USA leadership does not respect women’s empowerment. “It’s not just a mental health issue.”
“When I stand out and also talk about my leadership challenges, I just hope the next woman doesn’t,” Mando said. “And she took this seriously.”
