Miss USA crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert the winner as scandal-hit pageant heralds ‘new era’
By Oscar Holland and James Legge
(CNN) — Audrey Eckert from Nebraska was named Miss USA on Friday, as the scandal-hit annual pageant returned under new ownership.
The 22-year-old digital safety advocate beat 50 other contestants to claim the crown at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. Ivy Harrington from New Jersey and Chantéa McIntyre from Oregon were named first and second runners-up.
The event capped almost 18 months of turbulence for the long-running contest, which underwent an acrimonious change in leadership following the resignation of Miss USA 2023, Utah’s Noelia Voigt, amid allegations of mistreatment.
With the event’s new organizers heralding a “new era,” Friday’s finale concluded five days of events spanning swimwear competitions, eveningwear parades and Q&As with judges.
Eckert, a former cheerleader and graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, fell to her knees when her victory was announced, overcome with emotion in a blizzard of gold streamers.
In a break from tradition, she was crowned by reigning Miss Universe Victoria Kjær Theilvig rather than by last year’s winner, Alma Cooper of Michigan, who was not in attendance. Voigt meanwhile made a surprise return to the pageant as a host for the official online broadcast, having co-hosted one of the preliminary competitions on Wednesday.
Ongoing turmoil
The Miss USA pageant was plunged into controversy last May, when Voigt and then-reigning Miss Teen USA, UmaSofia Srivastava, resigned within days of one another. Voigt initially attributed her decision to mental health concerns, but social media users spotted that the first letters of the first 11 sentences of her cryptic post spelled “I am silenced,” sparking rumors of a strict non-disclosure agreement.
Her resignation letter, later seen by CNN, alleged a “toxic work environment” that “at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment.” Voigt also claimed the pageant’s organizers had failed to provide an “effective handler,” resulting in her being sexually harassed during a Christmas parade event in Florida while alone with an unnamed person in a car. Miss USA’s then president, Laylah Rose, has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing.
Last month, American businessman Thom Brodeur announced he had acquired the rights to Miss USA and Miss Teen USA from the Miss Universe Organization, which controls both licenses. The 10-year deal sees him assume the role of Miss USA’s president and CEO, but Rose – still posting via the pageant’s official Instagram account – rejected this, writing in a since-deleted post that she had not seen “any new contracts regarding any transfer of ownership.”
The Miss Universe Organization later issued a statement confirming Brodeur’s acquisition, calling it a “new chapter” in the pageant’s “storied history.” Miss Universe’s co-owner JKN Global Group then filed a lawsuit against Rose’s company VVV Global, alleging the firm had breached its contract and brought the Miss USA brand “into disrepute.” The suit also reiterated Voigt’s earlier claims, while accusing Rose of “mistreating pageant contestants, winners, staff and volunteers.”
In a statement, emailed to CNN by Rose, VVV Global said it was still “committed to the pageant world” and “eager to obtain a full 12-year license agreement for the … pageants as promised from JKN.” The company has also filed a countersuit denying allegations of wrongdoing, while claiming over $116 million in damages and lost profits.
About a week after JKN’s complaint was filed, Brodeur wrote on Instagram that he had “officially regained access” to Miss USA’s social media accounts. The businessman and founder of Brodeur Beauty declined CNN’s request for comment on his vision for the pageant, though he has previously attempted to draw a line under recent events. Speaking to People magazine last month about Voight Voigt and Srivastava’s resignations, he said: “There was some pretty egregious NDA language that suppressed the voices of those two young women and did not give them the ability to speak about their journey. I want to remove that restriction.”
Founded in 1952, the Miss USA organization has undergone multiple changes in leadership in recent years. Donald Trump owned the pageant, as well as the Miss Universe Organization, from 1996 to 2015, when he sold both to WME-IMG. JKN Global Group, a conglomerate founded by Thai businesswoman Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, acquired both Miss Universe and Miss USA in 2022.
Prior to Rose’s appointment, former Miss USA Crystle Stewart had operated the American pageant’s license, though she stepped down after becoming embroiled in a scandal that included claims of favoritism toward the 2022 winner R’Bonney Gabriel. (Gabriel later went on to win Miss Universe.) Stewart denied allegations that the pageant was rigged, and an internal investigation concluded no rigging took place.
Return to normalcy
This year’s contest began Monday with a “state costume” competition, won by Miss Missouri, Shae Smith. Other preliminary contests and closed-door interviews saw the 51 contestants narrowed down to a top 16, with a further four advancing to the final through a public vote.
During an on-stage Q&A with judges — including 2014’s Miss USA, and star of “The Valley,” Nia Sanchez — contestants fielded questions on topics ranging from representation in the media to the future of artificial intelligence.
More than a dozen of this year’s participants were aged 30 or above, after Miss USA lifted longstanding rules in 2024 banning women aged over 28 (as well as married women and mothers) from entering. Among them was 44-year-old Miss Delaware, Tetra Shockley, who became the oldest person ever to compete in the pageant. Miss New Hampshire, MonaLesa Brackett, meanwhile became the first woman to compete wearing a hijab.
Friday’s pageant also marked the first time Miss USA has not been televised since it was first broadcast on CBS in 1963. It was instead broadcast via a specialist beauty and pageantry streaming service.
Eckert will now go on to compete at the 74th Miss Universe pageant in Thailand next month. The USA is the most successful country in the contest’s history, with nine American entrants going on to claim the title in its 73-year history.
On Thursday night, meanwhile, high school student and aspiring dermatologist Mailyn Marsh, of Missouri, was named this year’s Miss Teen USA, a companion title for contestants aged 14 to 19.
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