It has been three decades since the infamous nude photo scandal that rocked the Miss America Pageant, and cost Vanessa Williams her crown and title.
Now after all this time Vanessa, who went on to have an uber successful career in music, acting and entertainment will now return to the pageant but of course not as a contender. Via USA Today:
The Miss America Organization, Dick Clark Productions and the ABC television network announced Tuesday they are bringing back the award-winning actress and singer to serve as head judge for the 2016 competition. It begins Tuesday and culminates in the crowning of the next Miss America on Sunday.
Williams, the first African-American Miss America, won the title in 1984 but resigned after Penthouse magazine published sexually explicit photographs of her taken several years earlier.
She went on to have a successful career in film, television, music and Broadway.
Sam Haskell, executive chairman and CEO of the Miss America Organization, said his friendship with Williams pre-dated the turmoil caused by the release of the photos.
“I have been friends with Vanessa for 32 years,” he told The Associated Press. “When the photos were published, there were people urging her to fight, but close supporters knew if she lost that fight that she would be completely removed from the history books. Instead of pursuing what would surely have been a long and stressful legal battle, Vanessa decided to resign and focus on her career. Vanessa and her family were hurt during the aftermath of the resignation, and that saddened me.”
Haskell has been trying for a decade to bring Williams back to the Miss America stage, but this was the first year the logistics could be arranged.
“Vanessa’s career speaks for itself, with all the success that she has had,” Haskell said. “When I became chairman of Miss America, one of the first calls I made was to Vanessa, to try to find a way to get her to come back. Her return as a huge success is a way for us all to move forward and put the past behind us. It’s truly an honor to welcome her back to the Miss America Pageant.”
Check out what Vanessa previously had to say during a 2013 interview with Huff Post Live regarding how winning Miss America negatively effected her career.
Since her 1988 debut album, The Right Stuff, Williams has sold more than 7 million records worldwide and has scored No. 1 and Top 10 hits on various Billboard album and singles charts, including pop, dance, R&B, adult contemporary, holiday, Latin, Gospel and jazz.
Vanessa joins pageant hosts Chris Harrison and Brooke Burke-Charvet, Nick Jonas and celebrity judges Brett Eldredge, Taya Kyle, Danica McKellar,Kevin O’Leary, Amy Purdy and Zendaya.
