NEWSVanessa Williams Says Miss America Nude Photo Scandal Led to Her Losing Broadway Role: 'I Had No Idea the Severity of the Judgment'
Vanessa Williams claimed she was called a derogatory term after a Broadway audition.
Aug. 11 2026, Updated 8:16 p.m. ET
Vanessa Williams reflected on the fallout from the nude photo scandal that forced her to relinquish her Miss America crown, revealing the drama led to her allegedly being blacklisted from opportunities on Broadway.
"My first real Broadway audition was Tommy Tune wanted me to replace Twiggy," Williams, 63, said on the Monday, August 10, episode of the "Dinner's on Me With Jesse Tyler Ferguson" podcast.
Vanessa Williams spoke with Jesse Tyler Ferguson on his podcast.
Vanessa Williams Was Blacklisted From Broadway Role
Vanessa Williams was being considered for a role in the musical 'My One and Only.'
The Desperate Housewives star said she was being considered for a role in the musical My One and Only, which ran from 1983 to 1985.
“Met with Mike [Nichols], came in, did the audition … I finished my audition. I walk back and say 'Hi' to Mike," she explained. "He goes to Lee Gershwin, who’s Ira Gershwin’s widow, [and says] 'Wasn’t she terrific?' [Lee] goes backstage, goes downstairs, the phone rings and it’s her saying, 'Over my dead body will that w---- be in my show.'"
"I knew that I didn't get it," she continued. "I had no idea the severity of the judgment."
Vanessa Williams Was the First Black Woman to Win Miss America
Vanessa Williams was forced to resign her Miss America title in July of 1984.
The rejection came after Williams was forced to resign her Miss America title in July of 1984.
The Ugly Betty actress, who was the first-ever Black woman to win the title in 1983, was required to give up her crown after nude photos — which she took as a teenager and under the promise of anonymity — were sold and published in Penthouse magazine without her consent.
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Vanessa William Said Her Nude Photos Being Sold Was a 'Betrayal'
Vanessa Williams claimed the nude photo scandal provided a 'penultimate opportunity' to 'bring her down.'
Williams called the incident a "betrayal." She felt the scandal made such a big impact because nude photos were the "exact opposite" of the "pristine image" perpetuated by the Miss America organization.
She claimed the drama provided the "penultimate opportunity" to "bring [her] down."
Vanessa Williams Was Forced to 'Prove' Herself
Vanessa Williams was determined to break free from the beauty queen 'box' others had placed her in.
"It always comes down to money and of course, Penthouse made a slew of money on all of it," she continued. "And I was caught in the middle, saying, ‘Okay, I did these as a teenager. No one’s supposed to see them. There is no signed release. They shouldn’t have been seen by anybody anyway, but the betrayal didn't mean a thing because that was the news, and again, that generates money."
Williams said the experience gave her the opportunity to "prove" herself outside the beauty queen "box."
"There were a lot of hurdles that I had to start with in the very beginning," she admitted.
