Vanessa Williams Reflects On “Pressure, Shame, Judgment” In Miss America Scandal

Vanessa Williams looks back 40 years, reflecting on the nude photo scandal that resulted in her being forced to resign from her role as Miss America after becoming the first Black woman to win the title. Speaking with PEOPLE, in a new interview, the 61-year-old discussed the life-altering incident.

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After winning the Miss America pageant in 1984, Williams was pressured to step down after nude photos of her were published without her consent by Penthouse magazine. In September 2015, when Williams served as head judge for the Miss America 2016 pageant, former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell publicly apologized for the ordeal.

“I’m still here and I’m still standing. I’m still feeling strong,” she shares with the outlet. She continued to share details of her past experience. “There was a tremendous amount of onus, pressure, shame, judgment,” described Williams. “It was global. You can fail quietly, but that was a worldwide fail.”

She continued, “I look back at my 19-to 20-year-old self and think, ‘Oh my God you were so naive, so trusting, so vulnerable.'”

In September 2022, it was reported that the controversy would be explored in a limited series with Sony Pictures Television.  It is executive produced by Zadan/Meron Productions’ Meron and Mark Nicholson with Stephen Roseberry and Jon Carrasco of Encore Endeavor 1 (EE1), a subsidiary of kathy ireland Worldwide. Hollywood attorney Martin Singer is listed as the executive producer.

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“This project is incredibly personal to me,” detailed Williams in a statement at the time. “There are so many inaccurate and untrue accounts of the events surrounding this period in my life, and as a mother, and as a Black woman, it is important to me that my truth be told and be documented from my perspective.”

Despite the fallout from the scandal, Williams continued to have a successful entertainment career, still using her talents on screen, on stage, and in the recording studio. Earlier this year, the industry veteran announced a new album distributed under her own record label, Mellian Music, a joint venture with Mod Squad, LLC, GoDigiPath, LLC, and ADA Worldwide.

Additionally, she takes the role of Miranda Priestly in the London West End stage adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada , debuting in the theater this fall.

Watch Vanessa Williams discuss the Miss America controversy with PEOPLE below.

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