Miss USA pageant plunges into leadership crisis as CEO Laylah Rose says she’s still in charge

If CEO Laylah Rose really is leaving Miss USA, she’s not going quietly.

A day after longtime pageant coach Thom Brodeur announced he was the new president and CEO of the Miss USA organization, Rose said she was “not aware of any changes in ownership of Miss USA or Miss Teen USA.”

In a statement posted to the Miss USA Instagram on Friday morning, Rose, who took over as president and CEO of the pageant in 2023, said she had not seen “any new contracts regarding any transfer of ownership.”

“We expect that any future developments will be communicated with transparency and clarity, ensuring the continuation of these esteemed pageants with the values and integrity that have always been their hallmark,” her statement added. “The Miss USA and Miss Teen USA competitions have long stood as platforms for evolution, empowerment, and positive change.”

In a statement sent to Business Insider on Friday, Brodeur responded to the news, saying, “I’m looking forward to the official communication from the Miss Universe Organization on these matters.”

This is the latest development in a tumultuous era for the Miss USA brand, which dealt with rigging allegations and a sexual harassment scandal in 2022 before Rose took over as president the following year.

Just months into Rose’s tenure, Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2023 UmaSofia Srivastava both resigned in the middle of their reigns, marking the first time a queen had given up her crown in the pageant’s 72-year history.

The pageant queens couldn’t speak out due to Rose’s strict nondisclosure agreements, but their mothers Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava told Business Insider at the time that Rose had put their daughters through “eight months of torture and abuse.”

Rose denied the allegations of a “toxic environment and bullying” in an open letter shared in May 2024. She has not responded to repeated requests for comment from Business Insider.

Meanwhile, questions regarding the future of Miss USA have been swirling in the pageant community for months. Multiple state directors have resigned due to Rose’s leadership in the last year, and some of their positions remain vacant.

A number of state pageants have gone on as planned, but a Miss USA 2025 national competition has yet to be announced. The winner is supposed to represent the US at Miss Universe 2025, which is scheduled to begin on November 2.

The CW network, which has a multi-year contract with the Miss USA Organization, told Business Insider that it currently does not have the Miss USA pageant on its schedule for 2025.

In his Instagram announcement on Thursday, Brodeur said he had a “10-year exclusive license” for the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA brands and promised a culture shift embracing “kindness, transparency, and responsiveness” that would include ending restrictive contracts and nondisclosure agreements.

After Brodeur announced his takeover Thursday, Noelia Voigt praised him to Business Insider, calling his leadership a “new day on the horizon.”

“I genuinely feel like going on my social media right now and telling every girl that has been afraid to compete in the USA system since I resigned to please go ahead and sign up now,” Voigt said. “Because I know things are going to be different.”

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