Noelia Voigt: Girl, Interrupted
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: a pervasive pattern of grandiosity,need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood. Individuals with NPD are very sensitive to criticism or defeat and although they may not show it, those experiences may leave them feeling ashamed, degraded and empty. May react to criticism or defeat with disdain and defiance, or with social withdrawal or an appearance of humility, which masks the grandiosity. Are more likely to have increased distress, depression and anxiety and substance use disorders. NPD is also associated with increased risk for legal, work and relationship problems. Behaviors may include playing “victim,” feeling envious of others, and reacting with anger or rage when criticized.
Source: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Text Revision. 2022 American Psychiatric Association (APA) Publishing
For the majority of pageant fans in the U.S., the first inkling that all was not well at the Miss USA Pageant this season was a series of unusual posts by titleholders Noelia Voigt, former Miss USA 2023, and Umasofia Srivastava, former Miss Teen USA 2023, on Instagram. Most notably, was a selfie Voigt posted on April 13th containing a mischievous smile and her proclamation to the world, “I no longer have access to the official Miss USA social media accounts.” The selfie itself was reminiscent of actor, Heath Ledger’s portrayal of “the Joker” in The Dark Knight, sending the pageant world into a frenzy with arguments on both sides of the issue. Most pageant fans sided with Voigt, whom they claimed should be the primary “voice” of the Miss USA brand while most pageant directors were against such provocative disclosures that amounted to digitally throwing her boss and organization under the bus. Little did we know then, however, the extent to which the situation was far out of control. Four weeks later, on May 8th and 10th, respectively, Voigt and Srivastava would resign their positions while employing a handful of extremely vocal supporters going full throttle in the national press to amplify negative allegations made by Voigt in her private resignation letter (released to the press in violation of her contract with the pageant). By this point, Voigt had already honed her inherited base of loyal Miss USA fans in her first claim of being “silenced” the month prior. She gave her supporters even more drama with an elaborate anagram to solve, culminating is the ultimate over-the-top cry for help, “I am silenced.”
For the first time in over 70 years, a Miss USA would relinquish her crown. Suddenly, the barrage of claims, perpetrated by Voigt’s mentor and personal coach, Thom Brodeur, and her friend and sister queen, blogger, Dani Walker, went viral. The two portrayed Voigt as an alleged victim of bullying, sexual harassment, and a toxic work environment — all the while calling for “new leadership” at the Miss USA Organization — which, of course, Brodeur positioned himself to assume. To this day, Brodeur has appointed himself the official mouthpiece for all things Miss USA — and won’t back down despite denying a take-over attempt.
His campaign to trash talk the organization’s leader, Laylah Rose Loiczly, was padded by what turned out to be false claims that Loiczly had reneged on a promise to make him President of Miss USA. “Absolutely not true,” says an official spokesperson for the organization. As it turns out, Loiczly wrote her own directorship proposal (she has a doctorate level degree), Brodeur never received an interview and there was never a plan by Loiczly to turn over her new investment to anyone else to run, particularly not Brodeur with his track record of having been turned down for every directorship he applied for at the Miss Universe Organization. As previously reported, Brodeur’s track record included the catastrophic failure of the La Reina Belleza International Pageant which he re-branded to “Queen Beauty” in 2019. The new enterprise, under Brodeur’s leadership, stripped the pageant of its culture, its language, and created a rift between pageant directors around the globe and Brodeur, who didn’t seem to understand that remaking the pageant in a Eurocentric image was a bad idea. An industry insider who asked to remain anonymous told BQE, “The (participation) numbers were so low that Thom resorted to hiring paid escorts to be in the pageant.” BQE reached out to Brodeur for comment on this matter and he did not deny, nor attempt to dispute, this claim. To be fair, his response consisted of several expletives, followed by insults, and several more expletives — but no denial. According to our sources, “Thom is not well regarded by MUO (JKN). They wouldn’t even give him a directorship for the Bahamas, let alone Miss USA.”
Brodeur fashions himself as a successful businessman with marketing chops to rival the best of them. However, BQE uncovered a tainted past of failures and overblown resumė puffery. We saw one company after the next with splashy corporate press releases announcing Brodeur at the helm, only to soon be degraded to an online store sourcing cheap goods from China, or simply vanishing altogether. Currently, BQE could only verify Brodeur’s financial interest in a CBD business, and the fact that he coaches (possibly unpaid) prospective Miss USA delegates, which included Noelia Voigt. “It’s shocking to think that all of the lying and manipulation of these young women was all for naught,” said our source. Even Brodeur’s Wikipedia page was tagged as, “messy self-promotion” by a reviewer.
Our initial story on this matter uncovered Brodeur’s devious plan, as the mastermind of a plot, utilizing Walker in the role of pageant community influencer/manipulator, Voigt in the role of damsel in distress, and Srivastava, as the adoring and impressionable little sister — it appeared the tables were set for the take-over.
In this update to our investigation, BQE will provide both answers to some of the most speculated aspects of this story and verified details of exactly what transpired between Noelia Voigt and the Miss USA Organization. Every detail covered in this article has been carefully sourced from those close enough to the situation to know the truth. Unfortunately, this is not a story of women’s empowerment, it is not about overcoming obstacles, nor inspiring others. It is a sad tale of what can happen when a lifelong dream is realized; when one is not prepared for success, nor equipped to sustain it. It is a call to action to young women everywhere who share the Miss USA dream, that preparation for success is key, and a work ethic commensurate with the requirements of the job is essential. Being Miss USA is not a job for the weak, the insecure, those with low expectations, or the vulnerable. To understand how we got here, we must first understand the person under the crown.
Raised in the Gulf Coast town of Sarasota, Florida, Noelia Voigt was born to Venezuelan immigrant parents, Jack and Jackeline Voigt, and was the “baby” of her family. Although she graduated high school from a prominent college-prep school, Pine View, Voigt didn’t attend college upon graduation and opted to attend beauty school instead to become an esthetician. She began competing in Miss Florida Teen USA in 2015, then under the directorship of Grant Gravitt. In those days, it was common for girls to travel between cities competing in multiple pageants to qualify to move on to the state pageant. Voigt’s first win was Miss Sarasota Teen USA 2015, looking like the quintessential Florida beach blonde. Voigt and her family recruited sponsors by doing fundraisers and making appearances in boutiques and beauty salons — supporting her pageantry became a family affair. Her doting father posted her pageant activities on his Facebook page and clearly was proud of his pretty “baby girl.”
However, all was not bliss as you would expect for a teenage beauty queen. At this time, Voigt said she was involved in an “abusive relationship” and was “bullied” by friends — facts which she revealed in an interview with the Business Insider published on October 5, 2023, after her Miss USA win. The article stated, “The 23-year-old credits pageants for giving her the strength to move on from her toxic relationships.” Whether Voigt received professional counseling following these “toxic relationships” and encounters, or not, is unknown. However, she appeared to bounce back and continued her pageantry journey, participating in other Miss Teen USA pageant preliminaries, the Miss Teen United States pageant, Miss Collegiate America and others. She even returned to her natural hair color of midtone brown. It was after winning the title of Miss Alabama Collegiate America 2020 onstage with her sister queens, that things seemed to go awry for Voigt again. Two months prior to the September Miss Collegiate America National Pageant, known for its spectacular stage show and Jeep grand prize, Voigt relinquished her title due to mental health issues. Her director posted on the pageant’s Instagram account on July 12, 2020, “As we all know, this has been a challenging year for everyone! And, unfortunately, this post comes with more heartbreaking news. With much deliberation and consideration, our Miss Alabama Collegiate sadly will not be able to attend Nationals. In respect for her privacy, we will simply state, this was not an easy decision and was made in the best interest of her health and well being. We want Noelia and her family to know they will be in our thoughts and prayers, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for Noelia.” She continued, “We are extremely excited to announce and welcome Sarah Marye Kissell as our new Miss Alabama Collegiate America.”
What was going on in Voigt’s life that resulted in prematurely exiting her title six months early and two months prior to competing in the national pageant? After all, Voigt had been posting on her title account only days prior to the announcement. We know from her LinkedIn profile, and her father’s Facebook post that Voigt opened the Iron City Lash Bar in Birmingham, Alabama with her sister, Nicole, shortly after finishing beauty school in 2019. However, after only 14 months, Voigt left the business and did not work again for over a year, as a waitress. According to Google, the lash business is still open and being operated by her sister. Did Voigt get fired by her own sibling, and why such an abrupt turn-around in career choice? The following year, Voigt received an appointed title as Miss Connecticut Collegiate America 2021 and she and her family headed to Little Rock, Arkansas for the national pageant. This is where things become even more interesting.
We spoke to several of the collegiate delegates for insight into Voigt’s personality and disposition during this time. “I knew her from the United States pageant and was surprised to see her in Little Rock,” says the source who prefers to not be named in this article. “I noticed that she was very different, she seemed uncomfortable, unsure of herself, something was off. At first, I didn’t even recognize her. I was like, whoa, she’s looking like a Mexican or something, very black hair, it was odd.” In four years, Voigt had migrated to three drastically different looks; what was really going on?
Notwithstanding Voigt’s dramatically altered appearance, she placed in the Top 16 and again, received glowing reviews on Facebook from her father. “Scouts were here all week looking for candidates and Noelia was picked!!! She is so excited!!!! We love you Noelia! Congratulations from all of us on whatever you do next!!”
As she transitioned into competing at the Miss level, Voigt’s platform included educating others on dating violence and healthy relationships and authoring a children’s book on bullying.
To be competitive on the Miss USA national stage, however, Voigt needed to beef up her resume with such things as academic honors, professional experience, and major philanthropic projects...which, based on her LinkedIn and Miss USA profiles, seemed grossly deficient in comparison to her state queen counterparts. Her highest academic achievement seems to be ranking as valedictorian of her eight month beauty school class. She also lists 17 months attendance at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, with no degree attainment. A concurrent stint at the University of Alabama where Voigt attended, allegedly, between January 2020 and October 2021, studying interior design with not as much as an Associate degree obtained between the two institutions.
Finally, from January to August of 2022, Voigt lists the online design school, National Design Academy (NDA) as her academic institution. She cites having a “Higher Design Diploma” notwithstanding also citing her “upcoming coursework” during the same time frame. As such, BQE has not been able to confirm any advanced degrees obtained by the now 24 year old.
For professional work experience, Voigt opened a lash bar in Birmingham with her sister Nicole. After closing, she then waitressed for six months before landing a sales job at Restoration Hardware (now “RH”), a retailer of high end home goods, furniture and lighting, working in the store as a design consultant. It would be interesting to know how Voigt was able to “spin” her extremely lightweight credentials to excel over equally attractive lawyers, nurses, doctors, and business professionals with advanced degrees and the type of experience more in line with Miss Universe delegates? One must ask oneself whether Voigt was truly Miss USA material or was she a pretty face who simply receive the luck of the draw? Had she ever balanced the demands of a real professional job with deadlines, policies and procedures to follow, a reporting hierarchy — did she really possess the business acumen and social graces needed to carry off the job of Miss USA or Miss Universe? By all accounts of those close to her reign, absolutely not. In our opinion, Voigt talked herself into a job that far exceeded her capabilities. To those around her, she became frustrated, resentful, and lashed out uncontrollably at everyone involved with the organization.
Reportedly, Voigt did not follow protocol laid out in her contract and the policy manual, issues that were carefully discussed in hours long meetings, where even Voigt’s and Srivastava’s mothers were included, at the beginning of her reign. She put together her own “team” of stylists and coaches separate from her official Miss USA handlers, stylists, wardrobe sponsors, and media trainers as though she personally owned the Miss USA trademark. She made several slanderous and provably false accusations against Loiczly reaching out directly to the Miss Universe Organization, and damaging her own reputation with the parent company in the process. Voigt failed to respond to at least 48 documented emails and texts, and she unilaterally cancelled herself for at least 15 scheduled events without consulting MUSA. Against policy, she would reach out to sponsors directly to cancel without the respect of contacting MUSA. One of our sources who works closely with the organization revealed, “Noelia was never in compliance with her Miss USA contract. At the very beginning, she brought her own team of people from who knows where, and no disrespect to the redneck Riviera folks, but what the f*ck? She just refused to do the job. Noelia was by far the worst and most under-prepared Miss USA ever. She was not trainable and wanted to do whatever she wanted to do. If anyone was bullied, it was Laylah.”
According to insiders, Voigt came to the position with an extreme misunderstanding of her role and relationship with the Miss USA organization. She treated her title as an extension of what she did as a teen, combined with never having had a real professional job in her life. This was more than just a Gen-Z thing having a flexible view of work. “Miss USA is definitely a job, you work for a salary as your primary income. When you don’t follow the rules, like any other job, you are going to receive written feedback from your boss. Very simple and professional feedback, but respectful, so there’s no misunderstanding on the expectations going forward. But Noelia took this badly, she got angry and kept finding ways to strike out while always playing victim to whomever was in her purview. She negatively influenced her Teen (Srivastava) with petty complaints, but she was never honest about being the aggressor in the relationship,” says our informant. “It doesn’t take a wealthy background or Ivy League education to be a successful Miss USA. Some of our best queens have come from humble beginnings. But, for crying out loud, you should have manners and home training; know how to write a ‘thank you’ email…something! She was just a mess, always a complete mess. She stressed out everyone, people who were there to make her shine, to make her inspirational to other women. But she was petulant, bratty, and belligerent all the time. She received thousands of dollars in clothing, including couture gowns, thousands in makeup, jewelry, spa services, you name it. She’d leave the clothes in boxes, wouldn’t take photos or post and tag the sponsors, never sent thank you emails — just never wanted to do the job, general brand ambassador type things to keep good relationships with the sponsors.”
That being said, we learned of several high-profile mishaps that Voigt created by her dismissive attitude towards her Miss USA role. For example, she arrived three days late for New York Fashion Week where she was scheduled to walk in several shows with Miss Universe, as well as have fittings for couture gowns with top designers, such as Rian Fernandez, the highly acclaimed couture designer out of the Philippines, who designed several winning Miss Universe looks, including those worn by former Miss USA and Miss Universe, R’Bonney Gabriel, as well as the current Miss Universe, Sheynnis Palacios, who did the shows without her U.S. sister queen. Voigt was also scheduled to do a filming for the industry NYFW coverage, the Krissy King show modeling a couture gown, as well as a fitting and show for Mexican designer, Alonso Maximo Abel. Again, Palacios received the spotlight while Voigt was a no-show and completely disinterested in taking advantage of the opportunities given to her. To make matters worse, Dani Walker railed against the Miss USA pageant in her blog for supposedly “not having their queen at New York Fashion Week.”
Clearly, fans of the Miss USA pageant, and current and former titleholders will be shocked to learn the truth of what went wrong and Voigt’s role in instigating it. Given the negative press and blame game that Voigt conducted with her cohorts after her resignation, convincing everyone that she was the victim, people may find this truth hard to believe. In the final analysis, Voigt made alleged victimhood at the hands of her own employer, her final “platform.” With this in mind, this expose’ seeks only to bring the facts and uncover the truth.
In response to questions regarding titleholder roles and communication, an official Miss USA pageant spokesperson informed us that the organization provides support to the Miss USA titleholder in the form of designers, sketches, colors of gowns, social media posting, media training, Miss Universe pageant preparation, as well as coordinating sponsored gifts and prizes, satisfying sponsor requirements, scheduling events and appearances, paying for travel and lodging for the titleholder, the chaperone, and, in the case of Voigt, also pay for travel expenses for her mother to accompany her on at least half of the appearances in addition to the chaperon, plus a $500 stipend for the mother per trip. Every official appearance is carefully documented in a shared filing system and requires the titleholder to manually confirm to avoid any miscommunication. As such, claims that Voigt was not informed of events and requirements are, according to the pageant, categorically and provably false. She also never traveled without a chaperon.
We also inquired about the highly speculated issue of the Miss USA prize package. Here are the facts according to MUSA: the official Miss USA prize package does not include an apartment, nor does it include a vehicle. The previous Miss USA, R’Bonney Gabriel, and her successor, Morgan Romano, received neither of those items. Blog posts by Dani Walker on her YouTube channel claiming Voigt should have received a Porsche rather than a Mercedes and a New York City apartment, instead of Miami are completely false. Officially, Voigt received every prize in her prize package, plus additional gifts in the form of a car and apartment. So, how did these extras come to be? Apparently, Voigt’s Utah apartment had a ceiling that had caved in and she could no longer live there. At the beginning of her reign, Loiczly asked Voigt for her “wish list” and Loiczly generously decided to gift a new apartment and car, which were not in the Miss USA contract. Ironically, this luxury Miami apartment — interiors of which were posted on Facebook, would later be used by Voigt to directly undermine Loiczly and her agreement with JKN, the owners of Miss Universe. In what can only be called a deception of monumental proportions, according to our reliable sources, Voigt sent a video of an apartment in extreme disrepair to JKN and falsely claimed it to be the apartment she had received from Loiczly and Miss USA. In addition to this egregious claim, Voigt contacted JKN again to complain that she was given a hotel room in Los Angeles (we’re speculating that it was the Biltmore) that “contained blood and brain matter from a suicide.” The hotel chain involved verified that Voigt’s claim was a complete fabrication— a curtain in the room contained a small apple juice stain from the prior occupant — and no “suicide” or crime drama, as Voigt was alleging, had occurred. This apparent mental break-down, according to our sources, “left the entire organization from the U.S. to Thailand is a complete tailspin.” In our assessment, this explains the lack of comment by JKN following Voigt and Srivastava’s resignations — they already knew Voigt was a drama queen suffering with delusions and whose word could not be trusted. BQE’s investigation uncovered numerous other incidents of alleged misconduct and malfeasance on Noelia Voigt’s part that would justify being released from her Miss USA contract. Some of our inside sources were convinced that Voigt indeed wanted to be fired. However, Loiczly, the franchise owner, did not want the stigma associated with such a drastic public action and decided to just allow Voigt to remain in place through the end of her contracted year — despite the constant attacks and embarrassment Voigt inflicted on both the company and Loiczly directly. Not even halfway through her reign and the pitfalls of dealing with a woman who appeared to be coming apart at the seams mentally was wearing on the entire organization. When people reached out to Voigt to offer help, she refused.
Much has also been discussed of Voigt’s allegations of being sexually harassed while appearing at a Christmas Parade in Sarasota, Florida. Voigt and her co-conspirators circulated a story in the press that a driver had made inappropriate comments to her wherein she “was made to feel unsafe” and that a “cold” Loiczly, told her to basically get over it.
Voigt’s claim, specifically, “I was made to feel unsafe at events without an effective handler and this culminated in being sexually harassed.” The truth behind this story demonstrates, in our view, an unhinged young woman desperately in need of psychiatric intervention. BQE verified with reliable sources that the driver, who was employed by another company supporting the parade, was in the vehicle having a conversation with Voigt’s parents and an employee of MUSA. Voigt, herself, was not in the vehicle at the time the comment was made. The driver made the remark that older and younger people shouldn’t date because it don’t work, at which point he and Voigt’s father chuckled. The driver then explained that he was not referring to himself, as he was married, and he held up his hand to show Voigt’s parents his wedding ring. It was a full week later than Voigt mentioned the comment to Loiczly, who conducted an immediate investigation. As expected, Loiczly learned that Voigt was not in the car at the time, and the comment was never made to her, nor was it sexual in nature. Loiczly agreed that the comment was inappropriate to say in front of her parents and gave Voigt an opportunity to receive redress, to which Voigt declined. Voigt refused any intervention, but after resigning, made herself the victim of the story.
We asked a friend from Voigt’s early pageantry days in Florida for insight on the young woman who relentlessly pursued the Miss USA title for years, only to burn it all down. Ashley (not her real name), who says she has not spoken with Voigt in the last few years said, “You have to remember that Noelia was raised with traditional Spanish culture from her South American heritage where kids are over-protected, and the youngest are spoiled. Noelia was typical of that.”
As a native Floridian who is very familiar with the culture, she continued, “Venezuelans tend to put their children on pedestals, praise every little thing they do, no matter how mediocre. To her parents, Noelia could do no wrong. She got extra credit for looks, for being pretty. They celebrated every time she took a poop. She was their queen, and she knew it. Her confidence came from them, from family, not really from doing anything major like most people.” When asked about her study habits and drive, her friend replied, “Well, she’s really good at playing smart. But, real work is not her thing. She’d rather be on TV. I heard that she’s interested in being the next Bachelorette and doing reality TV.” As to her history of dating violence and being in an abusive relationship, Ashley said, “She hid it from me.”
Did Voigt’s background of mental health struggles, and being given constant praise despite obviously struggling with academic and professional motivation affect her ability to be a successful Miss USA? In our opinion, yes. We believe that Voigt’s pursuit of the crown was more about obtaining the Miss USA title than actually doing the job. The proof is in the personal appearances and social media posts she canceled or simply ignored.
According to our informants who help manage some of the communications with sponsors and collaborators, the following actions were all committed by Voigt since the beginning of her reign.
· In December, Voigt declined an opportunity to welcome
home the troops, even after previously confirming.
· She refused to respond to an invitation to make a paid appearance at the Pageant Planet Awards, so MUSA had to decline on her behalf.
· She canceled attendance at the St. Jude Benefit Gala the day before the event.
· Voigt routinely canceled and rebooked flights at the last minute, without informing MUSA, and causing increased costs and lack of coordination of schedules with hosts and sponsors.
· In April, during a Washington, DC trip with Loiczly, which was posted on Facebook, Voigt confirmed a hosted dinner with congressmen and ambassadors, then immediately canceled the same evening with no explanation.
· Also in April, she canceled a promotional photoshoot with swimwear sponsor to promote Miami Swim Week.
· Voigt entered into unauthorized contracts with designers, coaches, and stylists for clothing and other products.
· She ignored wardrobe and products sent to her by official MUSA designers, stylists, coaches, and other official sponsors including couture designers; refusing to wear or display them in a post, refusing to tag, or even send acknowledgment of receipt of the items. This included thousands of dollars in product provided by the aforementioned couture designers, plus Beauty by Lady Code, Couture Room cocktail dresses, Krissy King Couture gown, Angel Sample makeup, Custom luggage, Vizcaya Swimwear, Portia & Scarlett by Diane & Company, Swarovski crystal and gold earrings, and an entire wardrobe of PinkApple dresses.
When Voigt posted in April on Instagram from her personal account, “I no longer have access to the official Miss USA social media accounts” BQE learned that it was due to Voigt’s problematic history of blocking the entire MUSA staff, including Loiczly, from visibility to her personal Instagram account, requiring them to remind her via email, text, and phone that this was a violation. Voigt also had a history of deleting MUSA posts from their official social media accounts. Voigt clearly did not understand the role of a spokesmodel and acted as though she owned the social media accounts during her reign.
A source who wishes to remain anonymous provided BQE with proof that Voigt, Dani Walker, and former MUSA employees Christina Lee and Claudia Engelhardt all submitted paperwork on April 23rd, collectively, to receive tickets to the Kentucky Derby. Clearly, they all fabricated stories that their meeting and staying at Lee’s house was a “coincidence.” Walker went so far as to look directly into the camera on her blog and deny that her rendezvous with Voigt was planned.
Voigt knew that she would be resigning and, apparently, spent the weekend conspiring with Walker and Engelhardt, all the while misrepresenting her plans and intentions to MUSA by claiming that she wanted to attend as herself and not in her capacity as Miss USA. It’s time for everyone to move on from this tragic story and pray for the healing and well being of this fallen queen.
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