Julie Jacobson/AP Images; MISS UNIVERSE,INC./AFP/Getty Images; Fox/Getty Images
- Miss USA is a beauty pageant that started in 1952. The current titleholder is Savannah Gankiewicz.
- The pageant features a swimsuit, evening gown, and interview round. All women 18 and up can compete.
- It's recently been consumed with scandal after both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned.
It's almost time to crown the next Miss USA.
The famous pageant has had a tumultuous few months after both Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava resigned their titles in May. It was the first time a titleholder had given up her crown in the organization's 72-year history, landing Miss USA back in the headlines less than two years after it dealt with rigging allegations and multiple leadership changes.
But what's the story behind the pageant that introduced the world to the likes of Halle Berry and Olivia Culpo, and who is allowed to compete?
We've got the answers to all your questions before the show on August 4.
What is Miss USA?
Courtesy of Miss USA
Miss USA all started because of a swimsuit.
When Miss America 1951 winner Yolande Betbeze refused to pose for pictures in a swimsuit, Catalina — a swimwear company sponsoring the competition — created its own pageant. A year later, Jackie Loughery became the first-ever Miss USA. That same year was also the first Miss Universe pageant.
The Miss USA competition consists of three rounds: swimsuit, evening gown, and interview. Unlike Miss America, which offers scholarship money as part of its prize package, the winner of Miss USA is paid $100,000 for a yearlong reign that involves numerous appearances and speaking engagements across the country. The Miss USA organization has historically emphasized philanthropy, allowing titleholders to advocate for their cause or charity of choice during their reign.
Every winner also competes at the annual Miss Universe pageant. Nine American women have won Miss Universe, the most of any country. Venezuela is in second place with seven wins.
Who has owned the Miss USA pageant?
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The Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe pageants were operated by the Miss Universe Organization until 2020. Donald Trump owned the Miss Universe Organization from 1996 to 2015. He sold the company to Endeavor after NBC dropped the show following racist remarks he made when announcing his 2016 presidential campaign.
In 2020, both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA were franchised out to Crystle Stewart, who won Miss USA in 2008. The Miss Universe Organization still oversees every national pageant that sends delegates to Miss Universe and has the final say if there's an issue. So it was the organization that suspended Stewart in October 2022 amid allegations the Miss USA pageant had been rigged that year.
Though the Miss Universe Organization said it found no evidence of rigging during its investigation, Stewart and the organization parted ways in August 2023. Laylah Rose was named the next Miss USA president.
Endeavor sold the Miss Universe Organization to Anne Jakrajutatip and her Thailand-based company, JKN Global Group, in October 2022.
Who is eligible to compete at Miss USA?
Eligibility rules for the Miss USA pageant have changed drastically over the past few years. In 2023, the pageant began allowing married women and mothers to compete, which is still not permitted in the Miss America pageant.
This year will be the first that all women aged 18 and over are eligible to compete at Miss USA (the previous cutoff age was 28). Women between the ages of 14 to 19 can compete at Miss Teen USA. Once you've won a state pageant, you can only compete once for the Miss USA or Miss Teen USA title.
Miss USA contestants are allowed to have tattoos or undergo plastic surgery. There is also no height requirement.
Who has won Miss USA?
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The current Miss USA is Savannah Gankiewicz, who assumed the title after Noelia Voigt resigned in May. Voigt was the first Miss Utah to win the title since 1960. Gankiewicz, her first runner-up, was representing Hawaii.
Texas holds the record for most Miss USA winners. Ten women have won the crown for the Lone Star State, which had a five-year winning streak from 1985 to 1989. There are 18 states that have never won a Miss USA pageant, including Alaska, Colorado, Florida, and Oregon.
The youngest Miss USA in history is Myrna Hansen, who was 17 when she won the crown in 1953. R'Bonney Gabriel is the oldest winner on record, winning the title when she was 28 in 2022.
The Miss USA winner list has become more diverse in recent decades. Miss USA 1962 Macel Wilson was the first woman of color and the first Asian American to win the title, while Miss USA 1985 Laura Martinez-Herring was the first Hispanic winner. In 1990, Carole Anne-Marie Gist became the first Black woman to win, and Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih Slaiby was the first Middle Eastern woman to take home the crown.
Gabriel was the first Filipina American to win Miss USA, while Voigt was the first Venezuelan American to hold the title.
Why is Miss USA controversial?
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The dust had barely settled from the scandals of 2022 when Miss USA found itself back in the headlines. On May 6, Voigt announced she was giving up her crown. Two days later, Srivastava followed suit.
Both women gave few details on their resignations, citing ironclad nondisclosure agreements they had to sign to compete in 2023. But their mothers, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, told BI during an interview in May that their daughters had suffered through "eight months of torture and abuse" under Rose's leadership as president and CEO of Miss USA. Representatives for Rose and Miss USA did not respond to requests for comment on the mothers' statements.
The mothers said Rose's communication with Voigt and Srivastava was "very abusive, very diminishing, very gaslighting" throughout their reigns and that she repeatedly prohibited them from doing appearances or speaking engagements — even when it was related to their philanthropies. They said Rose also removed their daughters' access to the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA social media pages and began impersonating them in the comments.
In her official resignation letter, which BI obtained, Voigt said she had been diagnosed with anxiety to manage symptoms — including "heart palpitations, full body shakes, loss of hair" — that developed "due to consistently being on edge, worrying about what Laylah will pop up with and choose to harass me about daily."
"It is devastating and unacceptable that my mind and body have been so horrifically affected by the treatment I have received at the hands of current Miss USA leadership," she added in the letter.
After Voigt resigned, more than 40 Miss USA 2023 contestants posted a shared Instagram statement demanding that she be released from the NDA. Miss Colorado Arianna Lemus also resigned in a show of support, and Miss Teen USA first runner-up Stephanie Skinner refused to assume Srivastava's title.
"One thing I will never give up is my character, nor my integrity," Skinner told BI at the time.
No investigation has been launched by the Miss Universe Organization, which still oversees the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants. The CW Network — which signed a three-year contract in April to air Miss USA and Miss Teen USA — said in May it was "evaluating its relationship with both pageants." It has not given an update since, nor has it responded to multiple requests for comment from BI.
In a statement to BI, the Miss Universe Organization did not address the issues surrounding Rose and the Miss USA pageant. However, a representative said the organization "remains steadfast in its mission to empower women and promote global unity" and is "committed to addressing all concerns with the seriousness they deserve and ensuring that our platform remains a beacon of fairness, inclusivity, and respect."
When is the next Miss USA pageant?
Despite all the recent controversy, the 73rd annual Miss USA pageant is going forward as planned. You can watch Miss Teen USA on the CW on August 1 at 8 p.m. ET, while the Miss USA pageant will air at the same time on August 4. Both pageants are being held this year at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Hosts for this year's show have not yet been announced. Last year's pageant was hosted by Keltie Knight and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, with backstage commentary from former "Bachelor in Paradise" star Jordan Kimball and Miss USA 2022 Morgan Romano, who assumed the title after Gabriel won Miss Universe.