Miss America 1984
| Miss America 1984 | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 17, 1983 |
| Presenters | Gary Collins |
| Venue | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Broadcaster | NBC |
| Winner |
Vanessa Williams (resigned)
Suzette Charles (succeeded)  New Jersey (succeeded) |
Miss America 1984, the 57th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983 on NBC Network.
Results
| Final results | Contestant |
|---|---|
| Miss America 1984 |
|
| |
| 2nd runner-up |
|
| 3rd runner-up |
|
| 4th runner-up |
|
| Top 10 | |
| Preliminary Swimsuit Award |
|
| Preliminary Talent Award |
|
Controversy
The crowning of Williams made her the first African American Miss America. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and angry racist hate mail.[2]
Ten months into her reign as Miss America, she received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken by a photographer prior to her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used.[3]
The photos dated back to 1982, when she worked as an assistant and makeup artist for Mount Kisco, N.Y. photographer Tom Chiapel. According to Williams, Chiapel advised her that he wanted to try a "new concept of silhouettes with two models." He photographed Williams and another woman in several nude poses. The photographs depicted mild overtones of simulated lesbian sex, which was quite controversial for its time.[4]
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, and did so in a press conference on July 23, 1984. The title subsequently went to first-runner up Suzette Charles, who is also African-American. In early September 1984, Vanessa filed an unheralded $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. Vanessa 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 1984 B".[5]
References
- ↑ Marchetti, Nancy (September 19, 1983). "Miss Florida, Kim Boyce, Feels Good Following Top 10 Finish In Pageant". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1B. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
- ↑ pbs.org
- ↑ time.com
- ↑ Tom Chiapel (September 1984). "Here she comes, Miss America". Pictorial (Penthouse). pp. 66–75. ISSN 0090-2020.
- ↑ "1980's - Decade in Review". Miss America Organization. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
External links
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