Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper skips the Miss 2025 contest with a cryptic message – hours before she crowns her successor

Miss USA 2024, Alma Cooper, has revealed that she will not attend the famous pageant or crown her successor in Nevada on Friday evening – just hours before the event begins.

Cooper made the “very difficult decision” to skip the Miss USA 2025 event in Reno, Nevada, as she announced that it was time to step away from beauty pageants.

“As I close this chapter, I do so knowing that I finished what I started with integrity and that my self-esteem is high, just like the crown I have the honor to wear,” Cooper wrote in a cryptic Instagram post.

The 23-year-old West Point graduate represented her home state of Michigan in last year’s competition, where she won She won and represented her country In Miss Universe 2024.

“In every aspect of my life, I always strive for excellence,” Cooper said. “I carried that same attitude with me when I won the Miss USA title, driven by the opportunity to inspire young people around the world at the Miss Universe pageant and within communities across the country.

“I am a firm believer that excellence means nothing if it stops with me, and instead I want my growth to be something others can build on.”

Cooper’s post was accompanied by photos of herself wearing a short dress and Miss USA sash on the campus of Stanford University, where she is a Nate-Hennessy Fellow.

Cooper did not participate in the international competition last year in Mexico, where Miss Denmark was Victoria Kjaer Thelvig She was crowned Miss Universe 2024.

She did not say why she was absent from Friday night’s ceremony, where it is customary for the previous year’s winner to crown his successor.

Cooper detailed the difficulties she faced when she became the first female military officer to be crowned Miss USA.

“I felt a responsibility to be a role model for others, and I refused to let anyone down. However, the pressure of working under such extreme conditions while staring at the rapidly approaching Miss Universe competition, facing women competing with the full support of their countries, became a shell of my former self.” An article for people.

Cooper took up running to help her mentally, and competed in three marathons before accepting a position with the Army Recruiting Department, where she found purpose in service.

“As I traveled coast to coast, speaking to thousands of the country’s brightest and most motivated young people, I continued to find hope in the human spirit. What I did not expect was that there were so many people who found hope in my own spirit,” she wrote.

Thelvig replaced Cooper on Friday, as Nebraska representative Audrey Eckert was crowned Miss USA 2025 at the Grand Sierra Resort.

“Tonight I’m here with a lot of mixed emotions, this will be my last national crown and my last show. I’m full of gratitude and happiness but also really emotional tonight,” Thelvig said in an Instagram post.

Eckert, 23, a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, defeated Ivy Harrington, first runner-up for Miss USA in New Jersey.

The Miss USA pageant has faced several scandals over the past year and a half, including a major leadership restructuring last month.

The internal conflict began in May 2024 when both… Miss USA Noelia Voigt Miss Teen USA Uma Sofia Srivastava has resigned from her crowns.

Srivastava claimed that her personal values ​​were “no longer fully aligned with the direction of the organization.”

The insider told The Post The time that Voigt and Srivastava They’ve been wearing thorny crowns for months – iron-clad contracts forcing them to smile silently despite the “harmful working conditions.”

The organizations had to crown the previous runners-up before Cooper was crowned Miss USA 2024.

The drama came to a head in September when… CEO Lily Rose has been replaced By coach and long-time judge Tom Brodeur as the new CEO, Chairman and President of Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.

“We are bringing a transformative vision rooted in technology, media and fan engagement to modernize and revitalize these titles for the next generation of powerful women and their fan base around the world,” Brodeur said in a statement released by the Miss Universe Organization, which oversees both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.