July 23, 1984
Miss America 1984
Vanessa Williams (The
first black Miss America) resigns ten months into her reign.
She received
an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken by photographer
Tom Chiapel prior to her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the
photographs were private and had been destroyed. Days later, Bob
Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, announced that his magazine would
publish the photos in their September 1984 issue, and paid Chiapel for the
rights to them without Williams' consent. After days of media frenzy and
sponsors threatening to pull out of the upcoming 1985 pageant, Williams felt
pressured by Miss America Pageant officials to resign.
The title subsequently went to first-runner up, African-American Suzette
Charles. In early September 1984, Williams filed a $500 million lawsuit
against Chiapel and Guccione. According to a Williams family representative,
she eventually dropped the suit to avoid further legal battles choosing to move
on with her life. Williams is quoted as saying "the best revenge is
success."Although she resigned from fulfilling the duties of a current Miss America, she
was allowed to keep the bejeweled crown and scholarship money and is officially
recognized by the Miss America Organization today as
"Miss America 1984" and Suzette
Charles as "Miss America 1984b."
July 23, 1984
Miss America 1984
Vanessa Williams (The
first black Miss America) resigns ten months into her reign.
She received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken by photographer Tom Chiapel prior to her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed. Days later, Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, announced that his magazine would publish the photos in their September 1984 issue, and paid Chiapel for the rights to them without Williams' consent. After days of media frenzy and sponsors threatening to pull out of the upcoming 1985 pageant, Williams felt pressured by Miss America Pageant officials to resign. The title subsequently went to first-runner up, African-American Suzette Charles. In early September 1984, Williams filed a $500 million lawsuit against Chiapel and Guccione. According to a Williams family representative, she eventually dropped the suit to avoid further legal battles choosing to move on with her life. Williams is quoted as saying "the best revenge is success."
Although she resigned from fulfilling the duties of a current Miss America, she
was allowed to keep the bejeweled crown and scholarship money and is officially
recognized by the Miss America Organization today as
"Miss America 1984" and Suzette
Charles as "Miss America 1984b."
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Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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