🔎 Why are so many pageant queens resigning?

Also: Chiefs kicker's controversial commencement speech, breastfeeding billboard banned and Portal plug pulled

May 16, 2024

Images via Instagram/@NoeliaVoigt and Instagram/UmaSofias

Two days after Noelia Voigt stepped down from her title as Miss USA, UmaSofia Srivastava announced her departure from the position of Teen USA.

Publicly, in an Instagram post, Voigt cited mental health as the reason for her decision. But in an eight-page internal resignation letter obtained by the New York Times, Voigt pointed to “a toxic work environment within the Miss USA Organization that, at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment.”

In her letter, Voigt said the Miss USA organization had failed to adequately respond when she reported an incident of sexual harassment in 2023. She also noted physical and mental health issues from serving as Miss USA.

Some social media users found a secret message within Voigt’s Instagram message. The first letters of the first 11 sentences spell out “I AM SILENCED.”

According to the New York Times, Srivastava and Voigt cannot comment due to a nondisclosure agreement that does not allow signees to disclose any information about Miss USA while employed by the organization. Following Voigt’s resignation, many of the Miss USA competitors signed a letter to push the organization to release Voigt from her confidentiality agreement.

Voigt represented the state of Utah and was crowned Miss USA in September 2023. Srivastava represented the state of New Jersey and was crowned Miss Teen USA in September 2023.

New York Teen USA Stephanie Skinner declined to succeed Srivastava, telling the New York Post she “didn’t feel like it was the right decision considering all the circumstances,” and she’s “standing in solidarity and standing up for female empowerment.”

Along with Srivastava, Miss USA Colorado representative Arianna Lemus resigned in solidarity after seeing Voigt’s Instagram post.

Are campus protests effective? A look back in history

Campus protests have played a significant role in college life and world events for the past six decades. Here’s a look at some of the most significant ones. (Zivvy)

View video on Instagram

↪ RELATED: What 1960s antiwar protesters think about today’s unrest on college campuses (WSJ)

🌎 Around the world

➤ US will send Ukraine $2 billion in aid—as Russian troops advance

The US will supply Ukraine with an additional $2 billion in military aid, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, after lawmakers approved billions in spending on Ukraine in late April—a surge of new aid that comes as Ukraine struggles to defend itself against a major Russian advance. (Forbes)

➤ Sidewalk video ‘Portal’ linking New York, Dublin by livestream temporarily paused after lewd antics

The video screen “Portal” that lets people in New York and Dublin peer into life on opposite sides of the Atlantic in real time has been a source of whimsical delight, but also a magnet for boorish behavior that’s prompted officials to hit pause. (ABC News)

🗳️ Politics

➤ South Dakota Sen. Kristi Noem is now banned from 20% of her state

Two additional Native American tribes in South Dakota have banned Gov. Kristi Noem (R) from their reservations after she said earlier this year that tribal leaders benefited from drug cartels. The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate did the same days earlier, and four other tribes had previously barred Noem over her remarks. (NewsNation)

➤ Gen Z isn’t here for elected women’s low salaries and dangerous Jobs

A new Cosmopolitan poll in partnership with Pivotal Ventures examines the challenges women face after they win an election—and reveals that it’s the younger generations of Americans who truly get what needs to happen next. (Cosmopolitan)

➤ State lawmakers have targeted restricting sex education since the Dobbs ruling, especially in states banning abortion

Less than halfway through the year, 2024 has already broken the record for the most sex education bill proposals in state legislatures since at least 2018. (CNN)

➤ Supreme Court lets Louisiana use congressional map with new majority-Black district in 2024 elections

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will allow Louisiana to use for the 2024 elections a congressional map that includes a second district where the majority of voters are Black, giving them the opportunity to elect their favored candidate. (CBS News)

⚕️Health and wellness

➤ Friendships, problem-solving: How video games are helping US teens

While moral panic over video games and violence are (mostly) behind us, it's still critical to understand how games are affecting young minds — both for good and for ill. (Axios)

➤ An ad promoting breastfeeding was too much for Times Square.

Molly Baz's lactation-cookie billboard was removed from Times Square for violating 'guidelines on acceptable content.' (The Cut)

➤ Trans people are officially classified as 'mentally ill' in Peru, sparking fury among LGBT groups

Under the decree signed by President Dina Boluarte, 'transsexualism, dual-role transvestism, gender identity disorder in childhood, other gender identity disorders and fetishistic transvestism' are now all recorded as mental illnesses. (Daily Mail)

🌤️ Climate & Weather

➤ ‘I am starting to panic about my child’s future’: climate scientists wary of starting families

An exclusive Guardian survey has found that almost a fifth of the female climate experts who responded have chosen to have no children, or fewer children, due to the environmental crises afflicting the world. (The Guardian)

➤ Smoke-filled skies leave Midwest fearing another season of polluted air

Smoke from wildfires in Canada draped Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin on Sunday and Monday. But experts say the air quality in the nation’s middle is unlikely to be as bad as last summer. (NYTimes)

↪ RELATED: Why does Canada have so many wildfires? (CBS News)

⭐ Gen Z in the Spotlight

➤ Olympian Simone Manuel is on a mission to get everybody into the pool

Manuel created the Simone Manuel Foundation to increase water safety as well as diversity in swimming. “We just weren’t given the access,” she says of the dearth of Black swimmers. (TIME)

See more of TIME’s Next Generation Leaders

➤ This 28-year-old is the new face of Europe’s far right

At 28, Bardella’s time might well have come—with major implications for France’s future, and Europe’s too. He was handpicked by far-right French leader Marine Le Pen in 2022 as president of the party and her likely successor as leader. Bardella’s rise mirrors a steady rightward trend that could come to radically reshape politics in his country. (TIME)

🎓 College Corner

➤ Chiefs' Harrison Butker criticized for graduation speech attacking working women while quoting Taylor Swift

Butker encouraged male graduates to “be unapologetic in your masculinity," and to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men," during his controversial speech (People)

➤ Deaf student protesters at George Washington University made multilingual organizing possible

Amid national movements on college campuses nationwide, deaf protesters joined the now-cleared George Washington University encampment. Volunteer interpreters made the multilingual organizing possible. (19th News)

📡 On the radar

➤ The queerest education in America

How one school in Indiana has embraced community and become a safe haven for LGBTQ+ kids. (The Advocate)

➤ Cohen testimony begins crux of case against Trump: 5 takeaways

In hotly anticipated testimony, Donald J. Trump’s former fixer discussed how he buried stories his boss didn’t want anyone to read. (NYTimes)

➤ Actor Steve Buscemi punched in the face in New York City

The 66-year-old, who starred in “Fargo” and “Boardwalk Empire,” was punched in the face late Wednesday morning in Manhattan by a random attacker. Despite bruising, swelling and bleeding to his left eye, he is OK.(AP)

➤ King Charles III's 1st portrait as king draws mixed reactions online

The unexpectedly modern painting and it's bold red tone quickly drew mixed reactions online, including in the comments section of the palace's Instagram post about the portrait. "I think this is beautiful and such a break from the traditional portraits," wrote one commenter.” "I'm sorry but his portrait looks like he's in hell," wrote another. (ABC News)

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