Who became the first Miss America to have to resign her crown on July 23, 1984, when nude photos of her were published in Penthouse?
Miss America history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail. Williams was forced to resign seven weeks prior to the end of her time as Miss America, however, after the unauthorized publication of nude photos in "Penthouse." First runner-up, Miss New Jersey 1983, Suzette Charles replaced her for the final weeks of Williams' reign. Thirty-two years after she resigned however, Vanessa Williams returned to the Miss America stage on September 13, 2015, for the Miss America 2016 pageant as head judge (where Miss Georgia 2015, Betty Cantrell, won the crown). The pageant began with former Miss
Miss America 1984 and controversies, however. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail. In addition, ten months into her reign as Miss America, Williams received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her (taken before her pageant days) would be published in "Penthouse". The publication of these photos ultimately led to her resignation as Miss America. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used. The black-and-white photos dated back to 1982 (the year