Alma Cooper Crowned as New Miss USA After Pageant Controversy

Alma Coop­er, a 22-year-old US Army offi­cer from Michi­gan, was crowned the new Miss USA 2024 on Sun­day, August 4th. This comes after a year of con­tro­ver­sy and tur­moil with­in the pageant organization.

Miss USA 2023 Crowned Amid Controversy

The pre­vi­ous Miss USA title­hold­er, Noelia Voigt, resigned just months into her reign, cit­ing a “tox­ic work envi­ron­ment” and “bul­ly­ing and harass­ment” with­in the Miss USA organization. 

This marked the first time in the pagean­t’s 72-year his­to­ry that a title hold­er had vol­un­tar­i­ly stepped down.

New Miss USA Represents Diverse Backgrounds

In her Q&A ses­sion, Coop­er spoke about her diverse back­ground, say­ing, “As the daugh­ter of a migrant work­er, a proud Afro Lati­na woman and an offi­cer of the Unit­ed States Army, I am liv­ing the Amer­i­can dream.” 

She expressed that one’s cir­cum­stances should not define their destiny.

Pageant Organization Faces Allegations of Misconduct

The Miss USA orga­ni­za­tion faced seri­ous alle­ga­tions of mis­con­duct, with for­mer title­hold­ers and insid­ers speak­ing out about a “tox­ic atmos­phere” and the need for “inter­ven­tion at the lead­er­ship level.”

The orga­ni­za­tion’s pres­i­dent and CEO, Lay­lah Rose, denied these claims.

Continued Turmoil with Miss Teen USA Resignation

The con­tro­ver­sy con­tin­ued when the 2023 Miss Teen USA, Uma­Sofia Sri­vas­ta­va, also resigned just two days after Voigt, stat­ing that her “per­son­al val­ues no longer ful­ly align with the direc­tion of the organization.”