A few months later, after two of her board members told "Vanity Fair" that she wanted "to be famous", Williamson deemed that she was being treated as "expendable" and purged the board of several members, including film director Mike Nichols, and the head of the New York Center. Some people believed Williamson was losing trust in several board members and preemptively fired them before they fired her. She disputed that, claiming that she intended to step down as president and wanted to give her successor a clean slate.