Newly crowned Miss USA 2023 Savannah Gankiewicz said she's received online bullying since accepting the crown following the resignation of her predecessor Noelia Voigt.

Gankiewicz, 28, the former Miss Hawaii who finished as the runner-up in the 2023 pageant and was crowned on May 15, one week after Voigt's sudden resignation, said the recent backlash "breaks her heart" while delivering a speech during a visit with Lahaina wildfire victims.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen on social media, but since I’ve gotten this title I’ve dealt with a lot of bullying and harassment,” Gankiewicz said while holding back tears. “I didn’t want to cry, but I just feel like it’s hard because I wish people saw where my heart is coming from.”

Gankiewicz's social media accounts have been flooded with negative comments since she was announced as the replacement Miss USA, which includes people accusing her of being undeserving, as well as threats calling for her to be injured for accepting the role. One social media user was reported to have told Gankiewicz's mother that they "hope your daughter gets shot & dies" on her social media channels.

Gankiewicz said she plans to take the negativity in stride and continue for the remaining five months as the titleholder.

“It’s about helping Lahaina and helping Maui residents and having a platform but also showing young women that you can get bullied and you can get hurt but you stand back up and you keep going and you keep using your voice,” Gankiewicz said, which was met with a heavy round of applause.

Voigt, 24, who represented Utah while winning the Miss USA 2023 crown at the pageant held in September, placed in the top 20 in the Miss Universe 2023 pageant in November and is the first Venezuelan-American woman to win the Miss USA crown in the pageant's history, announced her sudden resignation, becoming the first Miss USA to voluntarily step down in the pageant's 72-year history, on May 6. The 24-year-old specifically mentioned Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, who announced her own resignation on May 8, while expressing gratitude for support in her statement.

Several users acknowledged that the first letter in the first 10 of 11 sentences of the statement shared by Voigt spelled out the phrase "I AM SILENCED."